UAE Visitors to the UK Quit Their Vacations Amid Mounting Riots
A dash for safety takes precedence over weathering the ongoing storm across Great Britain.
Several UAE residents who are currently on holiday in the UK are cutting short their trips due to fear of being attacked in the ongoing riots that have gripped the country. The British Isles, which is witnessing its worst unrest in 13 years, is posing a considerable security hazard for scapegoated non-Caucasian refugees and people of Islamic background. This, since attacks by far-right groups erupted last week due to misinformation surrounding a murderous assault at a dance class in Southport, northwest England.
All this, despite the fact that the killing was perpetrated not by an Islamist or an asylum-seeker, but a British-born 17-year-old of Rwandan ancestry. The suspect - Axel Rudakubana - is accused of murdering three young girls and injuring ten others in an incident which fuelled false rumours and resulted in gangs of Brits taking to the streets. These violent trouble-makers, identified by police members of the English Defence League, have been attacking asylum facilities and mosques in numerous cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Sunderland, Bristol, Blackpool, Hull and Belfast. Travellers from the UAE and other Gulf nations have been caught in the crossfire between the rioters and law-enforcers.
Even while UK’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for peace and has stated that such violence will not be tolerated, vacationers from the GCC are fleeing for their lives. These include 24-year-old Emirati Aisha Dharan and her father. The young lady had her Dad arrived in the U.K. on July 25th with several English cities on her travel itinerary (including Manchester). But fearing they would turn victim of the mindless agitation, they changed their plans abruptly and flew out on the first Sunday flight they could get.
It was a similar story for Aisha’s compatriot – Hatim Mubarak. Except in the latter’s case, he was scheduled to take in England’s sights and sounds over a leisurely 3-week-period before heading for Belgium. But he got far more than had bargained for. Following the bad news on social media and television, Hatim’s resulting anxiety prompted him to depart immediately. This, even though the cancellations are proving hard on his pocket. Such fear also overwhelmed a British citizen of Lebanese descent who almost shrugged off the mounting violence in Liverpool till he heard that 300-plus residents were running rampant on city streets. He told media personnel, “I just picked up my bag and left for the airport”. One wonders how many others from the Middle East will have the luxury of time to follow suit.
