Dubai Imprisons Businessmen For Writing Bad Checks

A group of businessmen remain in a Dubai prison, sitting in their cells on a hunger strike for being incarcerated over writing bad checks.

Failing to pay back debts in the United Arab Emirates is considered a crime, and the consequences are dire. According to The Financial Times, the inmates are 12 businessmen from various countries across the Gulf, Pakistan and India, and they are being punished for debt-related issues. These crimes include actions such as writing bad checks or failing to pay back credit loans. The U.A.E. is still enduring economic crisis and recovering from a real-estate crash, however these prisoners still believe their sentences are underserved and are an “improper application of the law.”

Dubai is notorious for its harsh financial measures, which has caused great international criticism. It was only this past summer that the U.A.E. government installed an official credit bureau to help regulate the country’s financial system. Yet before the bureau’s installment, it was the U.A.E. police who were in charge of going after non-paying bank customers.

In 2012, there was a U.A.E. presidential decree that finally ceased the incarceration of Emiratis who did not honor their debt. About 1,000 prisoners were released, however these people did not include any expatriates, who account for over 75 percent of the country’s population.

“The Emiratis have gone home, but we are still stuck here,” said one of the foreign prisoners to The Financial Times. “We just ask that we can get out and start to recover the receivables we have so we can pay back our debts.”

The article indicates that bank officials insist that strict measures must be kept in place in order to stop debt criminals from leaving the country.  At present, financial creditors feel that being sent off to jail is the only leverage that they have to ensure repayment.

Opponents rebuttal that these measures are hurting the region’s economy—specifically those working in startups. Entrepreneurs worry that there is too much risk with starting new businesses, and are scared off by the possibility of being imprisoned for a failing startup that can’t afford to repay loans. 

The 12 men who have gone on strike are looking to raise public awareness and are hoping to influence reform. These prisoners hope to catalyze a change that will convince the authorities to pardon their crimes and allow them to leave and start working to pay off debts.

To read the full story at The Financial Times Click here.