Australian couple Marcus & Julie Lee 's nightmare in Dubai

Australians Marcus and Julie Lee safe and sound after Five Years of Hell in Dubai

Dubai hell is over as Aussie businessman lands in Sydney

Jenny Rogers 
The Daily Telegraph
January 20,2014

• Marcus Lee and wife Julie landed at Sydney Airport this morning
• Five-year ordeal finally over following 'traumatic' few days
• Family and friends waited in Arrivals with flags to greet pair
• Couple left financially ruined following ordeal

WITH shouts of delight and a flurry of Australian flags businessman Marcus Lee and his wife Julie were embraced by family and friends at Sydney International Airport this morning after a five year battle that had kept them stuck in the United Arab Emirates.

"It has been what we have dreamed about for five years now," a tired and pale Mr Lee told the waiting media as he stood beside his teary wife, Julie.

"Even down to the last couple of days it has been pretty traumatic."

Mr and Ms Lee arrived with just the clothes on their backs and their luggage from Dubai following a torturous legal battle that has left them financially ruined and traumatised.

Mr Lee was acquitted of fraud three times in the lengthy case brought by Gold Coast developer the Sunland Group over a botched Dubai land deal.

 He spent nine months in a Dubai prison, two of those in solitary confinement.

Mr Lee said he was "caught up in a grubby dispute between a lot of self interested property developers."

He said he owed everything to his lawyer John Sneddon who worked for free for five years.

"He always believed in me and told us we were going to get to this point.

"I have no idea how I will ever repay him."

Mr Lee embraced Mr Sneddon at the arrivals gate.

Mr Sneddon said getting an innocent Australian home was more important than money.
Mr Lee said he will now begin legal proceedings to try to get compensation for the ordeal.

The couple have lost everything, using the $300 000 bond money to repay debts.

Mr Lee's mother Carol McKinley hugged her son joking she was going to rip up his passport.

Mr Lee said he would not warn other Australians not to travel or live in the United Arab Emirates.

"But there are issues and that does happen, it might be one in a hundred but there is that one."

Mr And Ms Lee had been set to leave Dubai on Friday but were prevented by state security officials.

Although Mr Lee believed he had obtained all the required clearance certificates to leave Dubai, the country's state security still had a flag against his name.

Australian ambassador Pablo Kang negotiated with the Dubai foreign ministry to get the couple cleared so they could leave on a later flight.



Mr Sneddon said the bureaucratic bungle could have flared into a diplomatic row if the state's security had not backed down.

QANTAS has brushed aside negative and "RACIST" comments over its decision to take pork off the menu.. What Race is Islam again?

Name Change for Qantas?

Australian Labor Party's Head Office Moves on QANTAS

Latest from a Qantas cabin crew member is that you can pre order a Pork meal BEFORE your flight just like a vegetarian meal or Kosher meal and they MUST provide it.
So better for everyone to keep flying Qantas and make sure they all order a Pork meal.
A better way to protest I believe.

Qantas pork ban after Emirates deal sparks boycott vow on Facebook

Ben Pike, Grant Jones 
Daily Telegraph

April 06, 2013 12:00am

Pork lovers vow to boycott Qantas 
Qantas says new menu shows off multiculturalism 
Qantas bans ham after Emirates deal 

QANTAS has brushed aside negative and racist comments over its decision to take pork off the menu for flights that stopover in Dubai on the way to and from Europe.

QANTAS Goes Halal - Who said Pigs can't fly?

The new menu's architect, Sydney chef Neil Perry, also said the menu change ''shows off the great multiculturalism that Australia has''.

The official Qantas fan page on Facebook yesterday received a number of complaints from people refusing to fly with the airline after it changed its in-flight menu in keeping with the Islamic religion.

Administrators of the site were also forced to remove at least five Facebook threads because of racial abuse. Each thread contained as many as 10 comments.

A Qantas spokesman refused to respond directly to the online criticism and said there has been only positive feedback.

''Our customers tell us that one of the things that sets Qantas apart from other airlines is our high quality in-flight meals,'' he said.

''Feedback from customers who have flown on Qantas to and from Dubai and experienced the in-flight meals has been excellent.

''Qantas flies to every continent around the world and our on board catering is tailored to meet the differing tastes and cultures to each city that we fly to.''

Chef and Rockpool group owner Neil Perry was behind the menu change and said it is a way of forging a ''deeper relationship''.

''It shows off the great multiculturalism that Australia has. It's easy for me to blend dishes from around the world that I have seen in the great restaurants of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane,'' he said.

''The local produce is awesome too. One of the things we really wanted to do was to make this a deeper relationship than just ground facilities and frequent flyer points and I think through food is the way to do it.''

Perry said the exclusion of pork products and alcohol, both considered against the teaching of Islam, did not have a big impact on his business as it was only one major flight a day from Sydney.

He has already created special dishes for Qantas customers flying in and out of Muslim-dominated destinations including Jakarta.

The changes were made as part of the airline's partnership with Middle Eastern Airline Emirates and affect six flights a day between Australia and Europe.

These flights now stopover at Dubai instead of Singapore. All other domestic and international flights are unchanged.

Perry's dishes are created by third-party caterers in Sydney and Dubai and include economy class meals of baby cos salad with tomato, cucumber and cheese, and chicken blanquette with spinach linguine and carrots.

In business class, customers can get seared sea bass with braised fennel and warm zucchini salad, or Arabian lamb with spiced almond rice, artichokes and capsicum. 

QANTAS Goes Halal - Who said Pigs can't fly?

Pigs can't fly - Qantas bans pork on in-flight menu to respect Islam

Alan Joyce is a self outed / confessed Homosexual, as are many of the men and women entertainers and assorted Political and Union Bludgers and Free loaders who were flown to Dubai to "celebrate" this latest Gay Corporate alliance with those who would hang them from light poles and mobile cranes at the first chance they get the moment they feel they have the ascendency,and as such would be subject to arrest immediately upon landing in Dubai.
There is a code of conduct for all Qantas crew to uphold so as to ensure their safety in their employers "new best friends" brave new world of Sharia Law.
How long before Qantas female cabin crew are bagged in the freedom sack like their sista's at Emirates so as to fall into line with their new masters?

Is it an Irish "Australia Hating" Gay Industry,Labor Union thing with their ongoing Love Affair with the UN's Rabid Pit Bull, Islam, or just a case of been so far to the left that anything or any ideology that helps to smear and obliterates Australia's national carriers identity is worth getting into bed with?

No matter what it is : FUCK YAS ALL.

Angela Saurine and Peter Holmes 
The Daily Telegraph
April 05, 2013 12:00AM

QANTAS has removed pork from its in-flight menu on flights to and from Europe as a result of its partnership with Middle Eastern airline Emirates.

No food containing pork or pork products will be served on those flights - which now has a stopover in Dubai - because it is strictly forbidden in Islam and is considered "unholy".

All meals offered on the route in first, business and economy classes will also be prepared without alcohol in keeping with the Islamic religion. A note on the Qantas menus on flights in and out of Dubai states that the meals do not contain pork products or alcohol. The airline has also introduced a mezze plate offering traditional Middle Eastern fare in its upper classes and has Arabic translations after in-flight announcements.

A Qantas spokesman said the decision to remove pork, ham and other related food items had had minimal impact on its menu and it was still offering the same meal choices.

"Qantas in-flight catering often reflects the cultural and regional influences of the international destinations we fly to," he said.

"On flights to and from Hong Kong and China, our menus include regionally inspired dishes such as stir fries and to Singapore we have noodle options."

Qantas also offers meals without pork and alcohol on flights to the Indonesian capital Jakarta, which also has a large Muslim population.

Several other airlines which fly from Australia to the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia do not serve pork either.

Virgin Australia does not serve pork on flights to and from Abu Dhabi and all meals that are prepared are halal accredited, with meat prepared in a way prescribed by Islamic law.

Qantas passengers heading to any European city now fly via Dubai instead of Singapore, as they did under the airline's previous longstanding partnership with British Airways. The Qantas pork ban comes as other airlines - in the wake of the Qantas-Emirates merger - jostle for market share by aggressively discounting fares from Australia to Europe.

British Airways enlisted Mick Jagger's daughter, model Georgia May Jagger, to promote its discounted fares of $1777 to the UK via Singapore.

Emirates competitor Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad has return fares to Manchester or London from $1727 including taxes. Virgin was also promoting discounted fares to London out of Sydney ($1845) and Brisbane ($1869) this week. Qantas fares to London were yesterday priced about $1900 out of most capital cities - still around $100 more than its new partner Emirates is advertising.

I was told at least ten years ago by a senior Qantas executive that Qantas was going to be put out of business,what better way to smear its reputation than partnering with these Savages and pandering to their Moon / Occult Worshipping superstitions.

How does any western airline compete with any airline that basically gets free fuel for its fleet? For all the Dumb Arsed Australians gloating how they managed to get a cheaper fare from one of these Muslim airlines when Qantas is gone or fully owned by them,what price do you think you will pay for a fare then?

To all my fellow Australians I urge you to support OUR Airline at every opportunity irrespective of the price difference but do not Fly through Dubai take the longer road through Singapore,it is far safer and you are not supporting those have sworn to destroy us at any and every opportunity available to them.

Islamic Sociopaths Inc.: Warning Beware Dubai stay clear

Dream jobs dwindle for Australians in Dubai
Florence Chong
The Australian
May 28, 2009

DUBAI'S dream jobs have evaporated and hopes of making quick riches have been replaced by an air of fear and loathing following the arrest of several Australians this year.

Five months after taking on a job in a large Dubai property group, a Sydney property specialist has returned to Sydney as promises made during the interview disappeared the day he arrived in Dubai. "The project for which I was hired to develop was cancelled due to the credit crunch," said the executive, who declined to be named. "The base salary was $US500,000 ($640,000) a year plus generous bonuses.

Potentially, it was a $US1.4 million package - tax free." The icing on the cake was to be six weeks of annual leave. But two months after taking on the job last October, he said: "The Australian executives in my company were arrested on allegations of corruption. There was a real sense of unease in that place."

Expatriates have been arrested along with local employees on charges of alleged corruption and espionage. "It is quite unbelievable. It is like stuff you see in a James Bond movie," said another Australian executive. Officially, the charges remain unclear. Those who spoke to The Australian said the bursting of Dubai's property bubble had sent companies and authorities searching for someone to blame.
The irony was that nothing happened in Dubai without the signature of the chairman of the company, said one Australian executive who resigned because the company changed his job description on arrival. "An individual had his computer removed from his desk when he went on holidays.
On his return, the company's security guards escorted him out of the building," the executive said. "He believed sensitive information in his computer regarding an offshore investment that has gone sour overseas could be the reason." Stories and circumstances of how expatriates have lost their jobs have painted a grim picture of Dubai. Some of those still employed talk of paranoia and fear of persecution.
The reason? The arrest of fellow Australians, mostly in the property sector, without charges. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 17 Australians were currently detained in Dubai. He said five were in prison or detained. Of these five, three had been charged. They faced a variety of charges on a variety of matters.

The situation of the remaining 12 was unclear as no charges had been laid, but their passports had been seized to prevent them from leaving the country, sources said. An official source said the number of Australians getting into trouble with the law in the UAE had risen from 23 cases in 2005-06 to 55 in 2007-08 and still rising. "There is no doubt the number of cases is growing, but then the number of Australians working and living in the UAE is also rising," said the source. He said charges could range from drunkenness, not paying a bar bill to more serious charges such as embezzlement.

The most high-profile arrests are those of two former employees of Dubai-based Nakheel, Australians Matt Joyce and Marcus Lee, detained without charges since January. They are alleged to be involved in bribery over the sale of the Waterfront site, now controlled by the Queensland-based Sunland. While these cases are pending, a small number in senior management is concerned about phone tapping and monitoring of their emails, according to industry sources. Several persons who lost their jobs recently spoke to The Australian on an anonymous basis, citing concerns of inadvertently implicating former colleagues still in Dubai.

One expatriate said that in at least one instance, the employer held a person "hostage" by refusing to return his passport. The passport was finally returned after the intervention of his embassy. "Holding on to passports is apparently a common tactic in disputes over severance payments," said one executive. "I was not paid out when I left, but I was not about to argue with them.
I just wanted my passport back to jump on the first plane out." There are now about 20,000 Australians working in Dubai, lured by wonderful job descriptions and huge salary packages. As jobs dry up, the Gulf's largest investment bank EGF Hermes says Dubai's population will shrink by 17 per cent this year. During the boom years, Dubai's population grew by about 20 per cent a year, said Keith Parker, an expatriate living in Dubai.

The number of employees in the worst-affected sectors of construction, real estate and financial services will drop by 30 per cent this year, according to EGF Hermes. Reports said 54,684 residency visas were cancelled in January alone. Most of those affected, however, are workers from South Asia.
Those who spoke to The Australian said when a person terminated his contract, he or she would be banned from taking a position with another company in Dubai. These people also face financial hardships such as locked-in rental payments and relocation costs. A source said accommodation costs are much higher in Dubai than major capital cities such as London or Sydney.

Gee say it ain't so! the Muslims actually lied and deceived the infidels ,who would have thought that possible ?
The price you pay for dealing with the Devil.

Dubai "It's just not safe there" Australian Nurse.

Dubai deports rude Aussie driver after he flipped the bird

By Michelle Cazzulino
The Daily Telegraph
May 01, 2009 12:00am

IT was a gesture many Australians have been guilty of making at the end of a long, frustrating day.

But "flipping the bird" to another driver landed Australian nurse Darren O'Mullane 24 days in jail and a life ban from the United Arab Emirates.

Mr O'Mullane was deported from Dubai last Thursday after being convicted of making a rude gesture to another motorist, who happened to be a UAE official,last October.

Now he is back living at his parents' North Coast home.

He told The Daily Telegraph yesterday his wife Marie had been forced to leave her job in Dubai, along with the couple's home, cars and pet cat, following his sentence.

While he admitted he had done the wrong thing, Mr O'Mullane said he had been tired and stressed out after a 13-hour shift in the intensive care unit of Dubai's American Hospital.

"We'd had a local Emirate man suffering alcohol withdrawal who was aggressive and violent and a schizophrenic woman who was in quite a bad state when she arrived," he said.

"I just wanted to get home and there was a clown in front of me who was all over the road, talking on his mobile and I ended up having to overtake him to get past him. Out of frustration I flipped him the bird. I know it was wrong but it was completely impulsive. I was just like, 'You idiot'."

Mr O'Mullane said the other driver then tailgated him, overtook his car, slammed on his brakes and followed him to his apartment where a short altercation took place, with the other driver then reporting him to police.

Despite making a full confession and offering several apologies to the Dubai man, he spent 24 days in jail and was then immediately deported.

Mr O'Mullane said he engaged a lawyer to appeal against the sentence, but was unsuccessful. He and his wife approached the Australian consulate but were told staff "could not be seen to be showing bias" by helping him.

Mr O'Mullane said his experience was a warning to other Australians to be vigilant overseas, especially in countries ruled under Sharia law.

"I don't want anyone to go through what my wife and I have been through," he said.

"They make up the rules as they go along. People are being imprisoned for crazy things like kissing in public - the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

"It's just not safe there."

Why do Australian / Western men and women go and work in these Godless barbarous Middle Eastern Islamic dictatorships..?