A Cautionary Tale for Expats

Future or current expats: imagine having to live on the streets of a Middle Eastern city. Many expats think that this could never happen to them. Without careful attention to details, local laws and customs, this CAN happen to anyone:

Nicholas Warner, a British man who has been living rough on the streets of Dubai, is travelling back to the UK.

With help from locals and an expat sponsor, he obtained the release of his passport from the authorities.

Mr Warner had been sleeping in parks and public places around the city for nearly 12 weeks.

He said his problems began when he got into a dispute with his bank, Emirates NBD, initially over whether his credit card repayments had been made.

The U.A.E. in particular has seen so many expats from all over the world flee their debt, it is not surprising that something like this could happen. It’s unlikely that Mr. Warner is the only person that has been put in this situation. As the article doesn’t delve into the details over the dispute, what’s clear is that as an individual expat Mr. Warner was powerless to garner the release of his passport for a long period of time.

Full article at Expat Exchange

More at BBC