⚠ URGENT ALERT, Zeynab Javadli, ex-wife of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, and her three young children: read our plea for urgent international intervention
The Independent Watchdog on Dubai & the Wider UAE

Dubai: know before you go.

Dubai Watch is the UK-based human rights watchdog that alerts, informs and advises tourists, expatriates, businesses and investors on the facts, the risks and the dangers the brochures, and the world's embassies, don't mention.

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Alert

Clear, independent and reliable alerts on the dangers and risks of travelling to, living in, investing in and doing business in Dubai and the wider UAE.

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Inform

Protect yourself, your family and your business. In-depth briefing notes on UAE laws and customs, essential reading for tourists, expatriates, students and investors.

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Advise

Expert advocacy, crisis management and media support for victims of injustice and their families.

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Latest Alerts

Independent, unafraid, effective.

Urgent, Women & Children

Zeynab Javadli: released on bail, trapped in Dubai, her daughters not returned

Held under a travel ban and unable to leave, with her three young daughters still not returned. Our urgent plea for international intervention.

5 May 2026 · Women's Rights / Custody Tourist & Cyber Alert

Filming a strike in the UAE can cost you 10 years

As drones and missiles hit Dubai, tourists and expats, as many as 70 Britons, have been jailed for taking, sharing or even receiving a photo of an attack.

By David Haigh · Updated 14 Jul 2026 Tourist Alert

A holiday romance can land you in a Dubai jail

Dubai legalised sex outside marriage, but only if both partners are over 18. The rules catch tourists out.

The Marcus Fakana case · 15 Jul 2026 Scam Alert

The cancer 'cure' cult operating in Dubai

Unregulated healers charge the desperate thousands to 'cure' cancer with prayer, and tell them to stop chemotherapy.

Health & Fraud · 15 Jul 2026 Interpol & Extradition

Weaponising Interpol: the UAE's abuse of Red Notices

The UAE misuses Red Notices to pursue critics and rivals worldwide. Dubai Watch commissioned the report that exposed it.

Report commissioned by David Haigh · 16 Jul 2026 Business & Legal Risk

When the courts become the weapon

How Dubai and the wider UAE turn criminal and civil courts into a tool of pressure: bounced cheques, cybercrime charges, asset freezes and travel bans.

Justice System · 16 Jul 2026

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Information

Briefing notes: read them before you book, not after you land.

Plain-English guides to UAE laws and customs, backed by real case studies, the tourist jailed after a drink in a bar, the expat trapped by a bounced cheque, the parent caught in a Sharia custody battle.

TourismInvestment & BusinessDivorce & Child CustodyScamsCorruptionDebtCriminal CasesCivil CasesTravel BansHuman RightsWomen's Rights & GuardianshipInterpol Red NoticesGuide to Lawyers in DubaiPrisons & Police Stations GuideCybercrimeFree Speech & Press CensorshipFake News & DefamationFake SheikhsFake Sheikh POARomance Scams“Porta Potty” Scandal

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Advice

When it's already gone wrong.

An arrest, a travel ban, an Interpol red notice, your children kept from you, we connect you with our network of lawyers, crisis managers, journalists and human rights organisations to help you fight back. Contact us in confidence at info@dubaiwatch.org. Where formal legal representation is needed, we connect you with specialist support through our partner organisations.

How we help

Who We Are

Independent, unafraid, effective.

Dubai Watch investigates, documents and publicises abuses that too often go unreported, involving business people, foreign investors, women and children, political prisoners and the justice system itself. Our team of human rights advocates, legal experts, journalists and researchers is based in London and operates independently of any government, NGO or organisation. We are the watchdog Dubai would rather you didn't read.

David Haigh

David Haigh

Human rights lawyer, crisis manager, writer & broadcaster. Survivor of 22 months in Dubai's jails; lawyer to its princesses, including Princess Latifa, and today to Zeynab Javadli. Founder of Detained International and co-founder of Dubai Watch.

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Aisha Ali-Khan, co-founder of Dubai Watch

Aisha Ali-Khan

Women's rights campaigner, academic and writer. Co-founder of Dubai Watch, with a career spent advocating for women and children facing abuse, guardianship laws and custody injustice in the Gulf.

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