Forbes magazine has retracted labeling the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the least friendly country for expatriates following an online “protest” of expat workers living there.
In its report on Monday, news site Emirates 24|7 said Forbes now lists UAE as an “expat paradise,” quoting Dan Bigman, executive editor for Business News at Forbes, who named the Arab country as such, in the same rank as Singapore and Hong Kong.
The report said Bigman’s statement has “been largely seen as a retraction by the magazine.”
“The results are fascinating, and as volatile as you’d imagine… Where will your children be safest—and watch less TV? Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates,” Bigman wrote.
Earlier this month, Forbes released a ranking of the friendliest countries in the world for expatriates, which it based on the HSBC bank’s global “Expat Explorer Survey.”
HSBC asked 3, 385 expatriates in 100 countries last year to name the friendliest countries based on four categories:
(1) Easy to befriend locals
(2) Learn the local language
(3) Integrate to local community, and
(4) Fit into the new culture.
The UAE, which is home to some 600, 000 Filipinos, was dubbed the least friendly country, while two other Arab countries—Saudi Arabia and Qatar—were tagged most challenging for expats.
Reactions
In its report, Emirates 24|7 said netizens—apparently expats and Emiratis who took offense in the label—aired their sentiments using the hashtag #UAEFriendly on Twitter.
These netizens credited the hashtag to Khalid Al Ameri (@KhalidAlAmeri), who—according to his Twitter account —is a columnist for the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National.
“You can’t call a country that hosts 209 nationalities unfriendly. We’ve more countries here than the Olympics,” Al Ameri wrote on Sunday.
Other comments from Twitter include:
“I consider UAE my second home #UAEFriendly #UAE” – @DaraaaH
“If the UAE is unfriendly to expats – as Forbes says – then why are they staging their Global CEO Conference in Dubai in October?” – @iAmTamim
“#Forbes now calling UAE ‘expat paradise’, after #UAEFriendly debacle. Doesn’t reflect well on their ‘research’ dept.” – @ben_flanagan
“#UAEfriendly… I have lived in UAE since I was 2 yrs old, most of my friends are UAE Nationals and I always felt welcomed!” – @HowaidaRabee
“gud 2 know @forbes has realised its mistake, #UAE indeed expat paradise, pls come nd stay here to xperience arab hospitality #UAEFriendly” – @5abina
- VVP, GMA News
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