A Houston woman, who had been stuck in Dubai for several months due to an incident at a car rental agency, has finally departed the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
The news was confirmed by an advocate for the woman, Tierra Young Allen.
Allen, 29, successfully boarded a flight out of the UAE and is scheduled to make a layover in the United Kingdom before returning to the United States.
The spokesperson for Allen, Radha Stirling, shared that Allen managed to lift the travel ban imposed on her by paying a deposit of $1,360 to the Dubai police.
While the current status of any legal issues Allen might still face in the UAE remains uncertain, Stirling had previously indicated that Allen might have been facing potential charges for raising her voice at an employee of the car rental agency.
According to Stirling, Allen had clashed with two aggressive men at the rental agency who refused to return her belongings. Stirling has said that she believes the men targeted Allen because she is American.
“They started intimidating her and following her out. So she shouted back at them to stop, to leave her alone,” Stirling said.
The UAE has strict regulations concerning speech, extending beyond the norms in Western nations. Actions as minor as showing the middle finger in a traffic dispute or using offensive language in public can lead to criminal charges.
However, the Dubai police disputed Stirling’s version of events, stating that they had received a complaint from the car rental agency. The complaint accused Allen of slander and defamation after a dispute over rental car fees.
The employee has also filed a civil case seeking $10,000 in damages, the U.K.-based human rights advocate said.
The incident involving Allen isn’t an isolated case, as disputes over rental car fees have previously led to other foreign tourists becoming stranded in Dubai, according to Stirling.
