Ex-con excursions
A holiday in Dubai: seven star hotels, world class amusement parks, hyper luxury shopping, pristine golden beaches, year-round-sunshine, and now...
...rent-a-lag:
Dubai: Inmates who serve their sentences and successfully pass a tourist guide course will soon show tourists and sightseers around the city's landmarks, in a new initiative by Dubai Police.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) will soon organise tourist training courses for 60 male and female inmates at the Dubai Central Jail.
What fantastic fun for all the family, trying to guess whether their tour-guide is a former burglar, crackhead, rapist or murderer!
Kudos to jail bosses for wanting to rehabilitate these guys, but try to find something a little less front-line for them to start out with.
...rent-a-lag:
Dubai: Inmates who serve their sentences and successfully pass a tourist guide course will soon show tourists and sightseers around the city's landmarks, in a new initiative by Dubai Police.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) will soon organise tourist training courses for 60 male and female inmates at the Dubai Central Jail.
What fantastic fun for all the family, trying to guess whether their tour-guide is a former burglar, crackhead, rapist or murderer!
Kudos to jail bosses for wanting to rehabilitate these guys, but try to find something a little less front-line for them to start out with.
Labels: crime, emiratisation, tourism
16 Comments:
Or even worse, they might have been jailed for being pickpockets!
Absolutely brilliant! :D And it isn't even April fools day yet. :D
Only in the UAE.........
trwSecretDubai, I think its extremely ignorant for you to assume that everyone in prison is a 'former burgler, crackhead, rapist or murderer'. FYI, the majority of people in prison are either there for bounced checks or other financial cases, or for immigration issues such as absconding from their employer or overstaying their visa.
The rapists, murderers etc are deported after serving their sentences.
I'd actually prefer a prison system that was more rehabilitative than punitive and although I either agree or am indifferent to your blog posts, this one is probably the most uninformed.
Place : Dubai Central Jail
Time : 9pm after a long hot day outside.
Inmate #1: I had a fantastic day, I was accompanying this group of Britons to show them around Gold Souk. I’ve shown them the same shop I robbed and they bought everything from there. Life is so great, I don’t think I will do anything wrong again.
Inmate #2 : Well #1, I accompanied a Japanese group to Jumaira beach. While lying on the sand, I saw the same girl I touched two months ago and my god, she’s lost so much weight. I think I should ask her about her diet secret. Life is so bright, I will never do anything wrong.
Inmate #3 : aah, I went along with a German group to Deira and I’ve shown them the corner I was feeding my drug dealer network. They just loved the place. I think I will serve the community forever.
[After 30 minutes Inmate #4 comes in with steady steps]
Inmate #4: Ok guys, collection time, what do we have for today?
Inmate #1: Here we go, 200 dollars, a necklace and a silver ring.
Inmate #2: Two mobile phones, two wallets and a wet bikini (?!). I need to keep the bikini for myself
[Inmate #4 shakes his head in approval]
Inmate #3: not much for me today.
Inmate #4[pointing his finger at #3] : No problem man… your ass is mine tonight![long pause and a sigh]Ok guys, tomorrow we’ll have a Russian group…
[Inmate #2 interrupts hastily]: Can I go with them Please?
Inmate #4: Ok.. No touching and no panties for trophy or I will send you with next Iranian all guys group. Ok, #1 since you have done a good job, I will give you a vacation and you can stay here for the whole day tomorrow.
[Inmate #1 with an appreciative gesture]:Man, I will make it up to you some day.
[Inmate #4 furiously looking at #3]: Ok, off to my cell and loose your pants before, you should learn how to satisfy your boss.[Inmate #4 looking up beyond the concrete ceiling to skies]: I’m so enlightened. I will never do anything wrong.
at least these guys will know where to get all the good warez...
I'm just feeling bad for the family that'll land up with a former pickpocket..
Shaper - read the last line - I think rehabilitation is admirable, I just think this is a bad idea.
The rapists, murderers etc are deported after serving their sentences.
Not national ones. And this scheme is aimed at training nationals.
Admittedly I doubt they will be putting serious criminals into the scheme, it will probably be people that got jailed for fatal driving or more minor offences, but I still doubt it will go down well with five-star tourist to have an ex-crim escorting them.
Rehabilitated/vulnerable/damaged/unstable people are better off starting out in highly supervised positions, for their sake as well as everyone else's.
@secretdubai
I don't know if you have any extra information, but I didn't see any mention of this program being targetted at locals in the news article. I would guess that they would want a mulitnational group of guides to take different groups of nationalities around, and talk to them in their native languages.
That said, these people would have served their time; we should not vilify them for the rest of their lives, and, that said, realistically, how much damage could they possibly do as a tourist guide? And in any case, its not like the hotel or whatever is going to announce to their guests that an ex-prisoner will be their guides. Another thing I'd like to ramble about is the fact that if everyone who broke a UAE law was caught, the jails would be overflowing. A lot of prisoners in jail are the unfortunate few who were caught by some arcane law.
As for supervision, someone making a small mistake (and from my experience, a lot of people are in UAE prisons for minor offences) does not nulify every other thing they've done in their lives - why would they need to be watched over?
I disagree with your position, and I still don't know why you think this would be a bad idea, other than for PR matters.
Do you think these reformed crims will have their own uniform? If so it surely cannot be the already established blue :).
Perhaps we may soon see the 'boys and girls' in white (don't ask why white, visions of the love boat came to mind for some reason obscure to me).
All joke aside though it may be a good thing. The said former cons could use there experience as platform to get established in the tourist industry. This would prove quite prudent with the direction DXB is trying to take.
Well, I've long suspected that most of the hustlers in the tourist game were crooks, pimps, con artistes, and thieves. Now we shall make it official.
Those who succeed at it will be invited to go into politics, or join the National Security Forces, no doubt.
I've lived a number of years in the US, you know...$
Viva la gente indigenas!
- Debbie Menon -
Hi! all, I've changed my blogger
name from truedebbie menon to Debbie Menon.
Hi! all, I've changed my blogger name from truedebbie menon to Debbie Menon as of 06/01/07.
Balushi, I have done some risqué things in my life; and other youthfully foolish things but,
I'd never have dared to drive off unclad in the "clean underwear" regions.
Being jailed, must have been bad enough! Being bare-assed would have been truly embarrassing!
-Debbie Menon-
oh no, not more 'menonitis' - we get quite enough of that drivel in Khaleej Times! Guess hardly anybody else bothers to write up!
Anonymous? who? wha? huh? dunno.
Relief valve, and not much was happening here at any rate. I thought perhaps a little intelligent, if not intellectual, content might help it along. I think SD has a nice thing going, but it sure is anemic!
Can't consider debbie menon stalkers/ fake posters much of a contribution either. But, they struggle. They try!
-Debbie Menon-
Policeman jailed for forcible oral sex
By Bassam Za'za', Staff Reporter
Published: May 02, 2007, 00:00
Dubai: A policeman who forced a detainee to perform oral sex on him in a police station will spend a year in jail, a court ruled yesterday.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found the 24-year-old UAE national policeman guilty of molesting the 38-year-old Filipino victim in the police station's warehouse, as charged by the Public Prosecution.
The victim said in his statement the defendant moved him from the detention cell to an office with four other individuals.
Then he was asked whether he and other detainees were having sex in the cell. The defendant locked him up in the solitary confinement for 15 minutes because he didn't answer.
The Filipino claimed he was frightened and cried when the policeman forced him into the warehouse and sought oral sex.
The defendant cleaned up with a red towel after the act and warned the Filipino against reporting the incident. Traces of semen taken from the towel matched those of the defendant.
A police officer confirmed the statement of the victim. A police corporal, who was in charge of the detention that day, said he was seated at the desk which overlooks the warehouse room and "didn't see the defendant commit the crime".
The initial verdict is subject to appeal.
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