It’s not just influencers who move to Dubai

Responding to Gaby Hinsliff’s article (Influencers sold the world a fantasy Dubai – and now it’s gone in a puff of missile smoke, 6 March), Mark Husbands says Dubai has certainly been marketed as a place of aspiration, often through social media.

“Regarding Gaby Hinsliff’s article (Influencers sold the world a fantasy Dubai – and now it’s gone in a puff of missile smoke, 6 March), Dubai has certainly been marketed as a place of aspiration, often through social media”

The Guardian

He says the suggestion recent events represent a moral reckoning feels glib.

The Guardian

He argues most residents are ordinary professionals and families who have built lives in Dubai over many years.

He adds that when tensions rise their first concern is the safety of their families rather than the preservation of a “fantasy lifestyle”.

Husbands emphasizes that many people move to places like Dubai not out of frivolity but because they seek a tax and regulatory environment that allows them to keep more of what they earn.

He suggests commentators might usefully ask why so many skilled workers are drawn to jurisdictions with simpler and often lighter tax regimes.

The Guardian

He urges against dismissing those who leave as participants in a lifestyle fantasy.

Jessamy Hadley of Ascot, Berkshire says her son is currently “sheltering in place” in Dubai as a result of the current crisis in the Middle East.

“Regarding Gaby Hinsliff’s article (Influencers sold the world a fantasy Dubai – and now it’s gone in a puff of missile smoke, 6 March), Dubai has certainly been marketed as a place of aspiration, often through social media”

The Guardian

She says he is not an influencer or a tax dodger and that he moved there during the pandemic for a graduate job opportunity when there were very few opportunities in the UK.

She adds he is not asking for sympathy or to be brought back and is showing incredible courage while continuing to work under fire to pay off his student loan.

Hadley criticises a Guardian cartoon that depicted an expat crying with fear and distress.

She questions whether the cartoonist has ever been in imminent danger from missile and drone attacks and says she doubts it.

The Guardian

She argues this helps explain the lack of empathy shown in a cartoon published only three days after the crisis broke.