UAE residents, British expats change travel plans, contact families amid UK riots

Britons were shocked to see familiar areas upended during clashes in England's worst disorder in 13 years

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Riot police face protestors in Bristol, southern England, on August 3, 2024. Photo: AFP

Published: Mon 5 Aug 2024, 6:18 PM

Last updated: Tue 6 Aug 2024, 5:43 PM

Many UAE residents are concerned and dismayed by the riots in the UK — England's worst disorder in 13 years. While some expats changed their travel plans, others frantically contacted friends to ensure their safety.

Briton Grant Randall from Surrey said he was grateful that his family was safe. "My parents and sibling don't live in the part of London where the riots have broken out," he said. "However, I am praying that the riots don't spread to other parts. It is not normal for the UK to have such widespread unrest. People have become really upset about the stabbing of the girls."

Clashes erupted a day after three young girls were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

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False rumours initially spread on social media saying the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker, but police said the suspect was a 17-year-old born in Wales, with UK media reporting he has Rwandan parents. On Sunday, rioters set fire to a facility that provides shelter to asylum seekers in northern England. Mosques were also targeted.

According to Grant, an entrepreneur in Dubai, the unrest has been brewing for a while. "Britain has hundreds and hundreds of illegal immigrants arriving in boats every day," he said. "The government is not doing anything about this unchecked entry. This incident has been like a tipping point for all that anger to unleash, even though the attacker was not an immigrant. Sadly, it has snowballed into something like this and I sincerely hope peace is restored quickly."

Change of plans

Dubai-based expat Julia Lehmann is holidaying in her home country in Germany, and is scheduled to travel to London on Wednesday with her husband and children.

"We have booked some sightseeing tours and will visit family there," she said. "We have not cancelled anything because the place we are headed to have not been affected."

However, she added that some of their plans had changed due to the situation. "My husband is Muslim, and he wanted to offer Friday prayers at the London central mosque," she said. However, given the current situation, he has decided not to go ahead with the plan because things are so volatile."

Another UAE resident, Shazia Farooqui, who studies in London, said she has been worried despite having no immediate issues around her. "The unrest is mostly in cities like Leeds and Liverpool," she said. "In London, I haven't heard of any form of racism or violence from mobs. However, I am definitely worried about it. I have hijabi friends who have experienced a rise in Islamophobic and xenophobic comments recently."

She said she has been taking precautions. "I don't think this will affect my long-term plans, but I will definitely be more cautious and vigilant than before while moving around," she said.

Shocked, disturbed

British expat Vasudha Khandeparkar, who works as analytics and AI director at Grant Thornton, said she was disturbed by the riots. "Seeing riots erupt due to misinformation shows just how quickly false narratives can escalate into real-world chaos," she said.

Vasudha added, "It was extremely distressing to see the scenes unfold of the back of an extremely sad event. While the area where we lived and our friends live are currently unaffected, some of my ex-colleagues have been impacted."

She was shocked to see familiar areas on TV while watching the rioting unfold. "Witnessing the scene outside a colleague's house was unsettling, especially as I struggled to contact them," she said. "I finally heard from others that they were safe."

A former Dubai resident, Amina N, who lives in Leeds, said she and her family stayed indoors the entire weekend. "We had some protests near our home," she said. "It was not too bad because they were fairly civil. In some other areas, they burnt a mosque. For the first time, I feel a little unsafe in this country."

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