Student jailed for a year in Dubai after ‘gently touching’ airport official

An American student has been sentenced to a year in prison for touching an airport customs official in Dubai.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, a 21-year-old university student at Lehman College, was arrested during a layover at Dubai International Airport in July.

De Los Santos flew in to the city on her way home from a trip to Istanbul. After disembarking, she was held up by airport security.

According to London-based NGO Detained in Dubai, De Los Santos was ordered by customs officials to remove her medical waist trainer, which she was required to wear after undergoing a surgery earlier this year.

Detained in Dubai said the device was ‘impossible’ for De Los Santos to remove by herself. Two female security guards laughed at her and spoke in Arabic, refusing to help as she struggled in pain to remove the device.

‘I gently touched her arm to guide her out of the way then desperately started crying to my friend for help,’ De Los Santos told the NGO.

The entire interaction left De Los Santos feeling ’embarrassed’ and ‘violated,’ Detained in Dubai said.

A male customs officer allowed her friend to help her, but after the device was back in place, De Los Santos was informed she was being detained for assault after touching the female official.

Detained in Dubai said De Los Santos was forced to sign a document in Arabic, then was informed a travel ban was placed on her – preventing her from leaving the country.

‘Elizabeth only intended to transit through Dubai for six hours but she’s been there for months on end and has lost $50,000 in expenses and lawyers costs,’ said Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai.

Earlier this week, De Los Santos was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay 10,000 Emirati dirham for the interaction in July.

Officials in the UAE were reportedly set to deport De Los Santos after she paid the fine, but the customs officials filed an appeal before she could leave.

‘They either want her in jail or they want to pressure her into making a compensatory payment to them,’ Stirling said.

Detained in Dubai said they were in touch with De Los Santos’s congressperson, New York Rep Ritchie Torres.

The US State Department did not return a request for comment on the situation.

The State Department has issued a Level 2 Travel Advisory for the UAE, and encourages US citizens to ‘exercise increased caution’ while traveling in the country.

The agency also encourages US citizens traveling abroad to familiarize themselves with local laws before traveling abroad.

‘Public decency and morality laws throughout the UAE are much stricter than in the United States,’ the State Department said.

Examples of criminalized behavior include ‘making rude gestures, swearing, touching another person without his/her permission, and making derogatory statements about the UAE, the royal families, the local governments or other people.’

‘Travelers should keep in mind the cultural differences among the many people who coexist in the UAE and should be cognizant that unwitting actions, including clothing choices, may invite unwanted attention,’ the State Department warned.

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