A British plasterer has been left ‘devastated’ after being refused entry into Dubai because of his face tattoos, which feature words such as ‘blessed’, ‘family’ and ‘crazy life’.
Jordan Howman, 34, from Crewe, had ‘worked his @rse off’ to save up for the £3000 trip and was hoping to spend a week seeing the UAE with fiancée Theresa, 38, and daughter Kaic, 16.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be, because upon landing at Dubai International Airport, he was pulled over by customs officers, made to wait 6 hours, and then refused entry on account of his face tattoos.
Which is odd, because Jordan says he’s been to Dubai twice before, and his face tattoos weren’t an issue then.
He said: ‘It has absolutely devastated me. I feel like I’ve been massively discriminated against.
‘My missus has been crying her eyes out.’
‘There’s no law against face tattoos – there’s nothing like that.’
Jordan says the experience has made him feel ‘absolutely rubbish’ and he won’t be returning to Dubai again (well, not sure he has a choice in the matter to be fair):
‘It was my favourite country, but this has absolutely ruined it. Now I’ll never go again. I’ve lost all of my money because of a pattern on my face.’
Jordan continued: ‘It was my third trip to Dubai.
‘I’d had no problems all the other times. But this time, as we got in, I scanned my passport and was just about to go through security when an airport worker pulled us aside.
‘We were about to put our hand luggage on the conveyor belt when the man said: ‘Follow me’.’
After taking Jordan aside, the man asked if he’d had his passport stamped before taking it from him.
‘He snatched my passport out of my hand,’ he said.
‘There had been nowhere to stamp it – we’d used the electronic gates. It was just an excuse to get the passport out of my hand.’
‘A woman came and took me upstairs to immigration, where they said: “He’s not coming in because of his face tattoos – you’re not coming in because of the way you look”.
‘One of the staff behind the desk said a more senior immigration officer made the decision, saying I was not to enter Dubai and that I must leave the country immediately.’
Indeed, it does seem extremely unfair to lose out on £3,000 and a dream holiday because of something that is in no way illegal in Dubai. Not to mention all the time travelling out there and being made to wait six hours just to be told you’re not welcome.
Still, if there’s one country on the planet that’s going to turn you away for having your face almost entirely inked, it’s the UAE, whether it’s written in their laws or not.
It’s not all bad news though; apparently fiancée Theresa and daughter Kaic stuck around in Dubai and enjoyed their holiday, albeit without Jordan. I guess it’s Zante or Marbella for the next one.
For the British dad sentenced to 40 YEARS in Dubai jail after being caught with £2,000 worth of cocaine, click HERE. See? Could be worse.
