US Army veteran Robert Dobbs, 55, says he’s TRAPPED in the UAE as his former boss demands ‘fake’ $100,000 debt he allegedly owes for kids’ school fees

A United Stares army veteran who has been trapped in the United Arab Emirates for more than five years says he is losing hope that he will ever return home to his family.

Robert Dobbs, 55, was prevented from leaving Dubai and securing a new work visa due to an ongoing financial dispute with his former employer.

When Dobbs and his wife first moved their blended family to Dubai, the veteran became a private school teacher, where he worked for four years.

In 2018, Dobbs sued the school for withholding his end-of-service pay – a bonus for employees who complete employment in the UAE – after the end of his contract.

He also claimed that the school in Sharjah – Providence English Private School – would not strip him of his work visa, which was linked to his employment at the institution.

The foreign court ruled in favor of Dobbs and the school was told to pay his benefits.

The school responded by filing a civil suit against Dobbs, alleging that he owed them $100,000 in tuition for his four children attending the school.

Dobbs says the claim against him is baseless and retaliatory. However, he missed his chance to formally plead his case. The hearing took place just as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill, and Dobbs says he was never informed of the court date.

Since then he has unsuccessfully tried to raise the matter with local officials.

Insider reported that the school claims Dobbs owes them the tuition.

The Wisconsin resident spoke out via a press release last month, saying he has been “incarcerated for years in this open-air prison, three and a half years away from my family.”

“I am also a veteran with PTSD. I’m actually at the end of my life.’

The Detained in Dubai organization worked on behalf of Dobbs to move the ball forward in Dobbs’ release.

Radha Stirling, a UK-based legal advocate and CEO of Detained in Dubai, said Dobbs has been repeatedly jailed and beaten by local law enforcement.

“Robert has no legal opportunity to appeal or show evidence to the court that he does not owe the money,” she said.

‘He wasn’t even told there was a court date and couldn’t defend himself. US diplomats must work with UAE authorities to resolve this miscarriage of justice.”

“If diplomatic efforts are not made, the veteran will probably die in Dubai,” she said.

Dobbs has been in touch with Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office and has reached out to the State Department, though it’s unclear exactly what action either entity is taking.

Earlier this summer, a Houston woman was allowed to fly home after paying local law enforcement more than $1,000 to lift a travel ban against her.

The woman was detained in April after car rental employees claimed she yelled at them – a violation of a broadly defined anti-conduct law that could be interpreted as offensive in Dubai.

Insider reported that the US Embassy in the UAE said they were limited in their ability to speak about some cases, but noted that the State Department is clearly warning US travelers about the possibility of being detained while trying to enter the UAE. to leave.

“Travellers have been arrested at the airport and their passports have been seized due to outstanding financial matters, unresolved legal disputes and late credit card payments, including for matters previously unknown to the traveler,” the department’s website reads.

Dobbs said his life is “like Groundhog Day” right now. Every day I fear that this will be the day that I will be taken to prison while the false debt has not yet been paid. It can never be paid because I don’t have the money. I am also prohibited by law from getting a work visa as long as the business is open.

“It is no exaggeration to say that I will probably die here because of this. My friend Robin Berlyn died eighteen months ago trying to escape from exactly the same circumstances.’

Stirling added that because UAE law is easy to abuse, cases like Dobbs’s are “all too common.”

“We have seen people die in Dubai because they are not allowed to leave, nor are they allowed to work to earn a living because the ongoing police/civil case prevents them from getting a work visa,” she said.

“These people depend on charity and often succumb to malnutrition or, as they get older, to a lack of medical treatment.”

Since he sent his family to the United States in 2020, Dobbs’ wife has only been able to visit him twice. His children and stepchildren say their hopes that he will come home are waning.

On the last visit, Dobbs said he saw a local police officer following them.

“I look over my shoulder all the time. That’s something that I think really appeals to you at some point: hypervigilance,” he said.