Job Discussion Forums

[Desert Camper]

Rdobbs98, Just out of interest, how do you know these people were drinking illegally? If they have a valid alcohol license and were either consuming alcohol in licensed premises in the same emirate for which their license is valid or at home after having purchased it from a licensed retailer (such as Spinneys, African and Eastern, Cheers, etc.) then they were not drinking illegally at all. Under those conditions their consumption of alcohol would be perfectly legal.

Also, why do you say that if they are drinking alcohol then they are probably transporting it, too? And even if they were transporting it, it is not relevant as it is not illegal to transport alcohol within an emirate (you have to, for example, get home from the alcohol retailer which entails a certain degree of 'transportation'); rather it is only illegal to transport alcohol across emirates.

Further, your reference to 'Muslims' is confusing. How, after all, did you know these people you saw drinking were Muslim? And even if they were, I am not sure consumption of alcohol on their part is technically illegal. 'Haram' certainly, but I am not sure if it is actually illegal in the same way it is in, say, Kuwait, KSA, and the Sudan. In one of the articles I gave the URL for above (given again below) a CID officer states that "If I walk into a hotel or bar and I can see that the people drinking are Muslims, as a security official, I do not have the right to arrest them." See:

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/courts/liquor-licence-laws-wont-trigger-arrests-police-say

So if a plainclothes CID officer does not have "the right" to arrest 'Muslims' (however identified) for consuming alcohol in the UAE (outside of 'dry' Sharjah) then I do not see how it could possibly be illegal. And, again, if it is illegal, the authorities clearly do not wish to prosecute offenders. After all, anyone who has been to an alcohol outlet such as Spinneys or Cheers will have seen the hordes of (typically white) Land Cruisers, Range Rovers, Nissan Patrols, and Mercedes G55s - all with 100% tinted windows, of course - parked outside having crate upon crate of booze brought to their vehicle by an Indian runner. And although some licensed premises have a 'no national costumes' rule, many do not. I have seen guys who are clearly Emirati in their whiter than white kandooras and red and white headscarfs getting totally sloshed in hotel bars.

Also, even if it is illegal and if the relevant authorities wanted to prosecute offenders, who would be given the task of enforcing the law? They surely could not realistically expect some Sudanese or Omani policeman on a two-year contract who remits his salary back home every month to support his extended family to upset an Emirati. As for the plainclothes Emirati police officers - who are numerous, I read recently that more than 50% of working Emirati males are in one or another 'internal security force' - they cannot seriously expect them to arrest their brother(s), father, son(s), uncle(s), or cousin(s), let alone themselves!

Remember, if as has been recently stated, more than 50% of working Emirati males are (plainclothes) members of 'internal security forces', then it follows that, every time you see an instance of reckless, Russian Roulette-style driving, or an Emirati male drinking in a hotel bar, there is a one in two chance that the driver/guy in question is a policeman of one form or other. I personally love the UAE and will gladly remain here till the day I retire, but I think it behooves us to remember facts such as these at all times whilst being in this (amazing) country.

[helenl]

As an FYI you can get an alcohol permit in Sharjah that legally allows you to purchase alcohol elsewhere as Sharjah itself is dry.

Has Fujairah got around to issuing alcohol permits yet? Used to be you can buy alcohol but you couldn't get a permit if you lived there because they didn't actually issue any.

[Desert Camper]

Thanks, helenl, I was aware of that anomaly in Sharjah (one of many such alcohol-related oddities here). I have been told that such peculiar situations come about as a result of laws being made both at federal level and at the level of the emirate. So at the federal level a law is made that makes it illegal to transport alcohol from one emirate to another, and yet in Sharjah, which is dry, they allow non-Muslims to possess an alcohol license with which they can purchase fermented beverages in other emirates, but which, of course, must then be transported into Sharjah for consumption at home, thus breaking the federal law!

[helenl]

I didn't know there was a federal law about transporting alcohol, I thought it was like the traffic laws, set at each Emirate's level by their own governing body.

Do you have a link to where the law may be found? It would be informative to read the actual statute.

[Desert Camper]

Hi helenl! No, sorry, I do not. I am going on what (plainclothes) Emirati policemen/detectives have told me when I have met them out in the desert, off-roading and camping, etc. They also typically remind me (though never 'nick' me as a consequence) that, as I am a resident of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, I can only purchase and consume alcohol in that particular emirate, and not, as has sometimes happened when I have inadvertently crossed the 'border' into Dubai (easy to do when you are out in the desert and there is no fence alerting you to this), in any other emirate.

As it says in the (hilarious) document below in the section entitled 'Transporting alcohol between emirates':

"As you are supposed to only buy alcohol in the emirate which issued you with a liquor licence, the question of transporting alcohol to a different emirate should be moot.

However, it is well known that many expats from Dubai and other emirates buy alcohol at the Barracuda in Umm Al Quwain and the booze shop in Ajman without a licence. Since the purchase is made without a licence, they'll be in trouble if caught with alcohol no matter where they are.

It is more likely to be a serious problem in Sharjah. You're unlikely to be stopped for a booze check but if you have an accident and the police happen to see alcohol in the car, it might result in fines and/or jail. Even if you have an alcohol licence from an emirate other than Sharjah."

http://www.dubaifaqs.com/alcohol-licence.php

I actually find the whole situation highly confusing!