Man kicked out of Dubai on £3,000 holiday over his face tattoos
A British man has said he's lost out on £3000 and the trip of a lifetime after his face tattoos cost him his dream holiday in Dubai.
We've seen lots of Brits run into trouble abroad in recent months after committing crimes, with two young women still facing hefty jail sentences after being caught with drugs at the airport in foreign countries.
Another mum from the UK is currently stranded in Turkey after smashing a hotel shower while celebrating her boyfriend's new teeth, having launched a fundraiser to try and get her home to her daughter.
But Jordan Howman, 34, suggests that his face tattoos were not a crime, and that he was 'massively discriminated' against after allegedly being kicked out of the UAE earlier this month.
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He travelled to his 'favourite country' alongside his fiancée Theresa, 38, and daughter Kaic, 16, but all three were left devastated after he was held by airport staff for six hours with his passport confiscated, before being sent on a flight back to Manchester.
The plasterer has plastered tattoos all over his face, including words such as 'blessed' and 'crazy life' but he certainly wasn't feeling the former when his £3000 holiday was ruined.
He said: "My missus has been crying her eyes out. It has absolutely devastated me. I feel like I’ve been massively discriminated against.
“There’s no law against face tattoos - there’s nothing like that.
"I’m a lovely lad, I get on with anyone. It’s made me feel absolutely rubbish. I’m not allowed in a country because of the way I look. It’s properly, massively affected me.
“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.”
After passing through passport control in Dubai, Jordan was pulled aside and was asked if he'd had his passport stamped by a member of staff.
He added: "He snatched my passport out of my hand. 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.”
While his family had reached the five-star hotel, he was held for four hours in a waiting room before being transferred to immigration.
He claimed: "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.”
Only when he returned to Manchester was he allowed his passport back, while his fiancee and daughter seemingly stayed in Dubai.
While the UAE hotspot is seen as an ideal holiday destination by many, there are strict laws there that can easily catch you out, even if there's nothing in the rulebook about face tattoos.
LADbible has contacted Dubai airport for comment.
James Moorhouse