Hi this article by the BBC and the government demonstates that there UK nationals could be at risk in the UAE. All non Muslims I would imagine are at risk, as well as Muslims that get caught up.

The UK government will not issue this warning unless there has been specific threats or intelligence to suggest something may happen. Obviously with the tension across the water in Iran. It will do much to spread fear in the market, and to bring prices off.

UK says UAE terror risk is 'high'

Dubai emirate in particular has become a major tourist destination
British nationals in the United Arab Emirates have been warned there is now a high risk of a terror attack there.

Travel advice from the UK Foreign Office said terrorists might be planning indiscriminate attacks in places frequented by expatriates.

It did not give details about why there was believed to be a more serious threat than the general one previously issued to UK nationals.

Unlike neighbour Saudi Arabia, the UAE has had no major terrorism incidents.

Expatriates make up a majority of the population of the oil-rich state, which consists of seven individual emirates, including the main ones Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is also a major tourist destination.

"High" is the most serious of four terrorism risk levels which the Foreign Office uses in its warnings, the others being "general", "underlying" and "low".

Security awareness

British officials do not usually comment on the reasons for specific changes in its foreign travel advice, but say conditions in overseas countries are constantly under review.

"There is a high threat from terrorism," an official travel advice notice for the country said. "We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE."

The web-posted advice says attacks could happen at any time and may target residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests.

"You should maintain a high level of security awareness, particularly in public places," the advice says.

However, the advice is prefaced by an assurance that the "vast majority of visits" to the UAE are "trouble-free".

At least 100,000 UK citizens are resident in the UAE and more than one million Britons travelled there in 2006, the British embassy says.

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It's always worth putting these things in perspective. In the UK the Home Office states the threat from Terrorism as 'Severe' which is defined as an attack is highly likely. In the US the threat level is described as 'high'...

Also look at this.

High" is the most serious of four terrorism risk levels which the Foreign Office uses in its warnings, the others being "general", "underlying" and "low".


I dont think they would write high just to scare people, I think they are writing for a reason. ie. Where else in the world is high? Other than the UK, which in truth is at risk.

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Thats just silly. I never trust our UK government anymore... they lied about many things and made a big deal out of terrorism... in order to scare people and bring out draconian anti terrorism laws that made people's lives a misery.

They deprived ppl of their civil liberties and the UK is turning into a nanny state.

I dont need the UK to tell me there is a terror risk in UAE,....the UK should stay out of UAE affairs. If there is a risk, the UAE government will tell me about it.

I am loving the UAE, I love the freedom here, the peace, the tranquility, the life style, and the investment market. What we dont need right now is some stupid labour politician from the UK to ruin the atmosphere for British Expats living in UAE.

WS.

I m in UAE and I would suggest that UAE is one of the safest places on the earth for human being. If one believe it or not. By the way I am also an expatriate.These warnings are casual ones just to make people to be careful while on abroad.As There can be an incident in UK ,the same way it can be in UAE also, just the thing is that we need to be alert.
Bye

The timing of the message is by no means an accident. Our (UK) Government has created the notion that Dubai is an unsafe bet for investment and for very good reason. I should know, I work in a Government organisation and have been privy to classified information. The campaign objective is to scare investors from Middle East investments.

Every day the banks report Millions of £ transferred across to accounts in the Middle East, the Government can't simply afford to sit back and witness the collapse of the perceived financial hub of world "London City".
The UK Government no longer see the strategic value of appeasing the Emirate’s, and to be fair the share of the pie has been dwindling for some time now hence a new strategic direction.

Over the next few years you will see an increasing hostile strategy from the UK; after all they have nothing to lose and load to gain. Do you want to believe our hype? Put it this way, after I read the internal report which was made public on the 16/06/08, I relinquished a massive amount of equity in my house and now invested in 5 apartments in Ras Al Khamai. If the UK Government are so concerned, trust me it’s got to be good.

Interesting posts, and thank you for all replies. Being an expat for years, to me, the Political correctness or not of UK government is by the way side.
On the outmost and best they are saying this to protect citizens, on the worst to scare monger in the Middle East.
My question is why single out one emirate or one destination, there are many to choose from.

I hope and pray nothing happens, but it is not too far from a potential conflict zone, now the situation in Iran is heating up. obviously alot of Iranians have money in the region, so there is alot of potential scenerios to play out.

If we lived in a free and transparant world which we dont, then possible they could show their cards, and what was the intelligence. It could all coincide with other activity that could happen in the surrounding countries.

Time will tell. And possibly it will be in response to possible US and Israeli action in neighbours Iran.

As mentioned before, I hope and wish every one the best and that they are safe. No one (or no normal person) wants warfare or conflict in the region. It wont help the locals or foreigners. But unfortunately there are lot of stack holders in the region.

Iranians, Isrealis, Americans, as well as British, other expats as well as obviously the local and migrant populations.

Peace to all.

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Informer - i totally agree with you. Whether it be business or property investment England/ London is a no no, the economy is in a bad shape. I have 10 small businesses across the Home Counties and can feel the effects mate. I definately will not invest in UK anymore for the next few years, i have already exposed myself to UAE, and the growth is great. Hopefully, will move out there within the year and centralise my base in that region.

Fed up with UK - taxes, employee legislation and more red tape. We as business owners work 12-15 hours a day and have the headache and the know how but are not rewarded as much as we should be. Dubai, work hard and live life a king.

What is the point in investing in a market that heading down when you can invest in a growing market in the UAE?

When countries like UK and US' s economies are geared up (high borrowings) so much, that the effects of another nations mortgage business effects nearly all other nations we can see that this is a ridiculous system our financial engineers have put in place for us general public. Why should we suffer?

Abu Dhabi's soveriegn wealth fund is valued at reaching 1 trillion GBP!!!!! There economy has so much surplus cash it is sick. When do you think was the last time the US (THE SUPER POWER) saw this amount sitting in there coffers? never!!. Its all borrowed cash for them.

The UAE/ GULF is a growing market place with a solid economy. Its an absolute no brainer my friends. The Super Powers are jealous but the shift of the Power is full in motion. The Emerging markets are on fire, and no false screams of terror will stop that.

Dubai Government in damage control , if you reside in UAE you are unable to access the FCO web site.

What you should be more aware traveling to UAE is the ZERO tolerance to drugs including many over the counter item. Minute traces will and do land Britons in jail, in Dubai. search the web for examples.