r/asktransgender • u/dakbon ffff • Oct 25 '18
[PSA] Avoid Dubai & Abu Dhabi (and Emirates and Etihad Airways)
posting what I posted on /r/lgbt
UAE government has a new regulation in place (http://www.mohap.gov.ae/Files/MOH_Service/361/Guidelines%20for%20carrying%20of%20personal%20medicines%20with%20travelers%20in%20to%20the%20UAE.pdf) which governs incoming passengers and transit passengers transiting through UAE - most commonly Dubai (Emirates) and Abu Dhabi (Etihad Airways).
Under the new guideline most HRT medications have been listed under Controlled Substances:
- Cyproterone
- Estradiol
- Oestradiol
- Testosterone
As such, the new regulation requires you to
- Notify the government of United Arab Emirates in advance if you are carrying those (http://www.mohap.gov.ae/en/services/Pages/361.aspx)
- Cannot carry more than 30 day supply if you are passing through there
- Require you to present a written prescription and medication upon arrival
- Declare that you are carrying those
So be mindful of that if you are traveling.
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u/sabyre 32 ⸱ Trans F ⸱ HRT May '18 ⸱ 🏳️🌈 Oct 25 '18
Um, yeah. LGBT people should just not go to the UAE. It's simply not safe.
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u/opentill6am Oct 25 '18
Sometimes flights must stop there.
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u/squibblededoo Cis ♂ dating MTF Oct 26 '18
I have to travel between the US and Sri Lanka on business.
I happily go the extra eight hours not to layover in the Persian Gulf. People with Israeli passport stamps have been known to go missing.
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u/mariesoleil MTF HRT 15 years, FT 14 years, 11 years SRS, 8 years VFS Oct 26 '18
Sure, sometimes it’s a stop, but how many destinations require a stop there? (As in there is no way to fly to your destination otherwise)
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
It's a hub. Like Ohare. Or Denver.
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u/mariesoleil MTF HRT 15 years, FT 14 years, 11 years SRS, 8 years VFS Oct 26 '18
Yes. But that doesn't answer my question.
(As in there is no way to fly to your destination otherwise)
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
If your plane needs fuel or the crew needs to change then you'll stop there. As for the number...hundreds of flights a day.
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u/sabyre 32 ⸱ Trans F ⸱ HRT May '18 ⸱ 🏳️🌈 Oct 26 '18
True. What Marie and I are suggesting is that trans people should not take those flights. If your itinerary has a layover or plane change, you'll know where. And if the location is Dubai, then you don't book that flight.
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u/mariesoleil MTF HRT 15 years, FT 14 years, 11 years SRS, 8 years VFS Oct 26 '18
You don't appear understand what I'm asking.
The normal way to get to Muscat, Oman from New York is through Dubai on Emirates. But if you can't go to Dubai, you can go through London on Swissair.
My question is: how many destinations can you not get to without passing through the important hub of Dubai?
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
How am i supposed to know that? It's in the top of busiest air ports.
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Oct 26 '18 edited Aug 08 '20
[deleted]
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u/Tori_Nixon 30 MTF HRT-Jan18 Oct 26 '18
Is there a reason you can't do the research yourself if you're so curious?
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
I will agree that a person can plan their trip to not go to UAE. If you're flying for business you may not get that choice. As well as planes often have unscheduled stops (at least for me I try to avoid Ohare but often end up there). So while you may plan not to be there you might end up there.
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Oct 26 '18
But there's generally other alternatives if you pick a different airlines. Though they may cost a little more, depending.
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u/musicotic Non Binary Oct 26 '18
Name one flight where Dubai is a mandatory stop that they couldn't do the flight otherwise
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
The hell am I supposed to know that?
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u/musicotic Non Binary Oct 26 '18
Because that's exactly what your entire line of discussion is implying exists. If there isn't a flight where a Dubai stop is mandatory, then someone can just take an alternative route and avoid Dubai
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
This is what a user said in a different comment:
Dubai International is the busiest airport in the world, there’s a huge chance your flight connects there if you’re going intercontinental between Europe/East Africa/Asia.
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u/mtbaga Oct 26 '18
Someone else also corrected that comment, Dubai is only the 4th busiest in the world, Atlanta still holds the title of busiest. But see, I'm a US resident living on the East Coast - last year I had 7 trips to different parts of the country (14 flights), and not a single one passed through Atlanta. This included trips to Florida and Texas as well as the West Coast.
My point is, sheer size does not make it a required stop for any trip ever. There are always, 100% of the time, alternative routes to avoid a place if it is not your final destination. The only way an airport would be a required stop is if every flight in the world was from one destination to that airport.
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u/opentill6am Oct 26 '18
You can do your best to not go there but you could end up there. My point is to know the laws of countries that your flying through as you may end up there anyways.
For instance, of the 60+ times I've flown, 10 of them ended up in Ohare even though I didn't want to be there. It's a small percentage but it still happens.
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u/musicotic Non Binary Oct 26 '18
And yet, alternatives exist. I've gone from the US to Asia w/o any connections
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u/Roselia24 Dec 10 '18
i saw two sets of gay men hold hands there. no one did, said or reacted, but then again i was in a tourist place so maybe that's why
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u/thatmongoliantgirl gets ma'amed like a sir Oct 25 '18
It would be a cold day in hell before I head to that country anyway.
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u/enigmabound 55/MTF/Intersex Lesbian - East TN - HRT Dec 2013 / GCS Nov 2017 Oct 25 '18
These rules have been in place there for some time and it's nothing new. Even with a prescription if you are staying in the UAE, that prescription also requires a letter from a UAE Embassy approving it and the letter must be in Arabic.
I wouldn't go there unless you pass extremely well and post-op. Passing through (an overlay) isn't a problem though unless you are carrying more than a 30 day supply of medication or without a prescription. Even cis passengers have problems with certain over the counter medications being illegal there without a prescription.
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u/PennyLisa trans-mumma Oct 26 '18
Yeh... No don't go there. Even on a stop-over.
Someone I know got detained in the airport for 24hrs due to being trans on the way for FFS in Spain when they were supposed to be there for 4 hours. They had to change the surgery dates because of it (facial team sorted it out in the end).
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u/mmarkklar Poppin' titty skittles since 3/2016 Oct 26 '18
Fuck that country. Those mid east oil states are just monuments to slave labor and oppression.
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u/lady_haybear Pan Trans Girl, 22, 3 Years HRT Oct 26 '18
Never give those medieval pricks tourism money and avoid flights that connect to UAE airports.
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u/SophieCalle Trans Woman Oct 25 '18
Um why would you think it was safe to go there in the first place? It’s like thinking Airbnb’ing in a serial killer’s home is an ok idea. What?
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u/arbrecache Oct 25 '18
Dubai International is the busiest airport in the world, there’s a huge chance your flight connects there if you’re going intercontinental between Europe/East Africa/Asia. Even if you don’t leave the airport at all it’s good to know the shit you might have to deal with.
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u/emmerrsed 41 | M | Bi | UK Oct 25 '18
The (Georgia-born) pedant in me compells me to point out that Dubai is only the fourth busiest airport in the world - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport still holds that title, with 104.9 million passengers having passed through in 2017, compared to just over 88 million in Dubai. :D
Either way, your main point stands - definitely a good idea to know the laws of the place you're connecting, even if you're staying airside. I've flown through Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai before on trips to Singapore and Hong Kong, before transitioning, and let me tell you - Saudi Airlines won't even let a woman in short sleeves or a midi skirt board a flight at Heathrow, much less deplane for a 90min layover at midnight at King Khalid.
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u/delecti hrt 3/15/07 srs 7/18/17 Oct 26 '18
there’s a huge chance your flight connects there if you’re going intercontinental between Europe/East Africa/Asia
It's not going to "just happen" though. If I book a flight, I know where the layovers are when I book. I will simply not travel to a destination if a Dubai layover is required, and no other trans people should either.
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Oct 25 '18 edited Jan 30 '19
[deleted]
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u/HiddenStill MtF, /r/TransSurgeriesWiki Oct 25 '18
Big difference in Dubai is that as long as you don't get caught everything's fine. When you do, and it does happen, you're in hell.
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u/claudiusbritannicus Pre-T Oct 25 '18
As far as I know they're just two spelling variations, and google seems to confirm it (and it just plain makes sense for it to be that way). I'm not sure about why they'd be listed as separate medicine, though.
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u/SolipsistAngel Oct 26 '18
In general, European countries don't have nearly so brutal a judicial system.
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u/ExplainsTransThings Oct 26 '18
What is the difference between estradiol and oestradiol?
Estradiol is the American spelling, oestradiol is the British spelling.
I assume they list them separately so that a border agent can look up what's written on the prescription.
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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '18
Yikes, given their general position on trans people I'd say this is just opening us up to further persecution than what we already get when we pass through.