UN rights body to ‘raise’ case of Dubai princess Sheikha Latifa with UAE

Sheikha Latifa tried to flee Dubai in 2018 but was detained by commandos in a boat off India, and was not heard from until Tuesday

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says it will ‘raise these new developments with the UAE’

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Sheikha Latifa, a daughter of Dubai‘s ruler is seen in a video screen grab provided by Detained in Dubai, a London-based advocacy group. Photo: Detained in Dubai via AP

Published: 10:59pm, 17 Feb 2021Updated: 10:59pm, 17 Feb 2021

The United Nations’ human rights body on Wednesday said it would seek information from the United Arab Emirates about a daughter of Dubai’s powerful ruler after she said in video messages that she was being imprisoned in a heavily guarded villa.

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum tried to flee the wealthy Gulf state in 2018 but was detained by commandos in a boat off India. She had not been heard from until Tuesday, when the BBC’s Panorama investigative programme broadcast video messages from the sheikha.

In the videos, which appear to have been recorded covertly, the 35-year-old princess says she is “worried about my safety and my life”.

“I don’t really know if I’m going to survive this situation,” she says in one of the videos. The BBC said they were recorded over months on a phone she secretly received about a year after her capture.

Marcus Essabri, a cousin who lives in England, told the BBC that the videos stopped about six months ago and there had been no word from Latifa since then.

“I fear they caught her with the phone and now I am fearful for her safety,” he said.