URGENT ACTION REQUEST: Jailed in Dubai for Helping Children
A British-Australian dual national living in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates city that bills itself as a “friendly holiday resort”, has been detained for weeks because he tried to raise money for Afghan child refugees using his Facebook page.
Scott Richards, a volunteer fundraiser, has been charged by Dubai authorities for “fundraising without permission”. He faces up to a year in prison under a new law regulating charities amid regional concerns about donations reaching extremists.
YOUR HELP URGENTLY NEEDED
Tom and I are joining with the folks at SOFII, 101Fundraising and UK Fundraising by urging you and every Agitator reader who believes that raising money for needy children is not an offense worthy of prison to take immediate action.
Here’s what you can do. And I hope you’ll do it today.
- Sign this Petition to UK Prime Minister Theresa May to personally intervene on Scott’s behalf with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates.
- Alert your friends by email, Twitter, Facebook or whatever your favorite social channel to also take immediate action by signing the Petition and also alerting their friends.
- Make a contribution to help Scott’s family who are doing everything they can to get him released.
Please make your contribution through SOFII. Ken Burnett and the folks there will make sure all of your contribution goes directly to Scott’s family for his release.
[Note: The SOFII Donate page is in £, and you can use PayPal or any major credit card. For your convenience here are this morning’s exchange rates. One £ = 1.30 USD; £1= 1.16 Euros; 1£ = 1.70 CAD; £1= 1.72 AUD and £1= 1.NZD. Additional exchange rates can be found here.]
Please take action today. The 42 year-old Scott, father of two, is currently being held in Dubai’s Al Murraqabat Police Station. He’s only been able to see his wife once a week and make limited phone calls. And only able to change clothes every seven days and has to pay for water.
All of us must take a stand. No good deed should be punished in this manner.
Can we count on you to act today?
Roger
P.S. You can read more about Scott’s plight from this article in The Guardian or this from Australia’s ABC News.
P.P.S. Put YOUR Facebook and Twitter accounts to work. Spread the word. Fundraisers Unite!
P.P.P.S. I don’t know about you, but I won’t be giving Dubai a “Like” on their official Facebook page, but I will be sending a contribution to SOFII to help Scott and his family
One response to “URGENT ACTION REQUEST: Jailed in Dubai for Helping Children”
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Done and I have started sharing. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Terrible stuff. Great if the fundraising community can rally behind it. I’ve also asked Fundraising Ireland if they can join SOFII and FR UK. Hopefully they can also get behind it.