Richard Boyd Barrett warns against legitimising UAE over human rights
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised a proposed extradition arrangement with the United Arab Emirates, saying he supports extraditing people involved in violent criminality but has grave concerns about the UAE's human-rights record. He warned against steps that could legitimise a regime he described as authoritarian, citing prisoners of conscience, harsh laws, involvement in Yemen, ties to Israel, and the treatment of migrant workers.
He said nobody would be sorry if people involved in violent criminality were extradited from the UAE, but stressed that any arrangement must not obscure the country’s human-rights violations. He noted the government speech he reviewed contained conditionality on human rights, yet emphasised continued concern.
He detailed that the UAE holds dozens of prisoners of conscience and imposes severe penalties for speech deemed to damage the reputation or prestige of the President - including sentences of up to 15 years. He argued such laws would criminalise the kinds of comments made routinely in open political debate.
He accused the UAE of close association with Saudi Arabia and of being heavily involved in the war in Yemen, saying UAE weapons have slaughtered tens of thousands. He also criticised the UAE for facilitating Israeli political presence and for pursuing normalisation that was – he said – mediated by Donald Trump, despite widespread anger over Israel’s actions in Palestine.
He highlighted the poor treatment of migrant workers, who he said make up about 80% of the UAE’s population, describing the country's record on migrant labour as "terrible." He presented this as part of the regime’s broader disregard for human rights.
He argued the regime was shaped by colonial powers as part of an effort to control the Middle East and described the UAE as part of an "architecture of oppression" that blocks self-determination and justice. He urged caution so the State’s actions do not serve to legitimise what he characterised as a brutal, authoritarian regime.
Extradition support with cautions
He said nobody would be sorry if people involved in violent criminality were extradited from the UAE, but stressed that any arrangement must not obscure the country’s human-rights violations. He noted the government speech he reviewed contained conditionality on human rights, yet emphasised continued concern.
Legal repression and prisoners of conscience
He detailed that the UAE holds dozens of prisoners of conscience and imposes severe penalties for speech deemed to damage the reputation or prestige of the President - including sentences of up to 15 years. He argued such laws would criminalise the kinds of comments made routinely in open political debate.
Regional conflicts and relations with Israel
He accused the UAE of close association with Saudi Arabia and of being heavily involved in the war in Yemen, saying UAE weapons have slaughtered tens of thousands. He also criticised the UAE for facilitating Israeli political presence and for pursuing normalisation that was – he said – mediated by Donald Trump, despite widespread anger over Israel’s actions in Palestine.
Migrant workers and social composition
He highlighted the poor treatment of migrant workers, who he said make up about 80% of the UAE’s population, describing the country's record on migrant labour as "terrible." He presented this as part of the regime’s broader disregard for human rights.
Historical roots and legitimacy concerns
He argued the regime was shaped by colonial powers as part of an effort to control the Middle East and described the UAE as part of an "architecture of oppression" that blocks self-determination and justice. He urged caution so the State’s actions do not serve to legitimise what he characterised as a brutal, authoritarian regime.
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Transcript
Sir, I don't think anybody is going to be sorry if people involved in violent criminality are extradited from the UAE, or if this arrangement facilitates that extradition and the bringing of justice to people involved in violent criminality. But I have to say I have grave concerns about the UAE's human rights credentials, to put it very, very mildly. And I see that you have in your speech, which I just looked through there, indicated that there's quite a lot of conditionality around all of this and that the human rights aspect, if you like, you're cognizant of it, but I do think it is important to say this is a regime that is really, has brutal disregard for human rights. They have dozens and dozens of prisoners of conscience. These are people for whom, this is a regime, should I say, not a people, but a regime for whom you can get long stretches in prison for damaging the reputation or prestige of the President. 15 years. I mean, every single one of us would be in prison. For the comments that are made on a regular basis in this doll, in robust political debate, you would get a 15 year prison sentence in the United Arab Emirates for saying things that we say every day and the members of the public say every day about what they would see as the policy failures of politicians, all stripes. So that's the sort of regime we are dealing with. We are dealing with a regime that is closely associated with Saudi, has a similarly brutal sort of authoritarian character, and which is up to its neck in a horrific, horrific, near genocidal war against the people of Yemen over a long period of time, where their weapons slaughtered tens of thousands of people in Yemen. They are also a regime that where much to the anger and fury of ordinary people in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian people who are suffering under the horror of a genocidal assault by Israel, but also decades of apartheid, of occupation, and ethnic cleansing. The UAE is one of the few regimes that gives free passage to the representatives, political and people of Israel, to go to that country, much to the fury of many, many people in the Middle East, and indeed, were it not for recent events and the outrage being expressed across the region, what Israel is doing to the Palestinians, were planning to have a normalisation agreement with Israel that was mediated by, interestingly enough, Donald Trump, to normalise relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, despite the horrors of what Israel is doing, and despite the fact that that does not represent the vast, vast majority of people in the Middle East, or indeed very likely in the UAE itself. Terrible record of the treatment of migrant workers, who make up about 80% of the population of the country. So this is a brutal, nasty regime that is also more than willing to do business with the regime in Israel that is committing genocide and atrocities and war crimes against the people of Palestine. So I just think it is important to say these things on the record, because this is not some sort of normal regime, it is part of an architecture of oppression. It was a regime that effectively was established by the colonial powers as part of a project to control and dominate the Middle East and set up dictatorial regimes to prevent the self-determination of the people of the Middle East to control their own destinies. That is actually what this regime is part of. So I just hope that this isn't a step towards legitimising a very, very brutal regime that is a block to the self-determination of the people of the Middle East to actually have freedom, to have justice, and to control their own destinies, and which has very, very scant regard for human rights. Thank you. Thank you so much.