As host of UN COP28 climate talks, the autocratic UAE is now allowing in critics it once kept out

As participants at the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks filed in Sunday for another day of talks, they found themselves greeted by a rare sight in the United Arab Emirates — a protest.

As participants at the United Nations' COP28 climate talks filed in Sunday for another day of talks, they found themselves greeted by a rare sight in the United Arab Emirates — a protest.

From activism about the Israel-Hamas war to environmental issues, activists allowed into the UAE can demonstrate under strict guidelines in this autocratic nation. Others from organisations long banned by the country also have been let in, providing them some the opportunity for the first time in over a decade to offer criticism — though many acknowledge it may see them never allowed back in the country.

The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms led by Abu Dhabi's ruler, bans political parties and labour unions. All power rests in each emirate's hereditary ruler. Broad laws tightly restrict speech and nearly all major local media are either state-owned or state-affiliated outlets.

Laws also criminalise the very few protests that take place by foreign labourers over working conditions and unpaid salaries, which can see them get partial settlements but then be promptly deported. The Emirates' overall population of more than 9.2 million people is only 10 per cent Emirati.

The rest are expatriates, many of them low-paid labourers seeking to send money back home to their families, skewing the country's gender balance to nearly 80 per cent male. Many avoid saying anything as they see their livelihoods at risk for speaking up as their visas and residencies remain tied to their employers.

However, the UN and the UAE agreed before COP28 that free expression would be allowed. Activists described a process of having to seek approvals with organisers for their demonstrations.

Early on Sunday, a dozen demonstrators held up a sign calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, some reading a long list of Palestinian children's names and their ages who had been killed in the Gaza Strip. Israeli security personnel from a pavilion on site briefly argued over the protest with United Nations police on hand guarding the Blue Zone, an area overseen by the UN where the negotiations take place.