UK

Demands grow for sanctions over British man detained in Dubai for 17 years

15 July 2025
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The Foreign Secretary has faced urgent calls to sanction those responsible for the detention of a British man in Dubai for the past 17 years.

MPs and peers have urged David Lammy to publicly call for the release of Ryan Cornelius, now 71, who was detained for 10 years in 2008 as part of a bank fraud case.

The detention was then extended by 20 years in 2018.

A group of 15 parliamentarians, led by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said the case of Ryan Cornelius was a “flagrant example of arbitrary detention and abuse of power”.

A UN working group has found he is subject to arbitrary detention and last week the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning his detention in “inhumane conditions” and calling for his “immediate and unconditional release”.

Heather Cornelius handed a letter to 10 Downing Street urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to meet her and take immediate action to secure her husband’s release

Heather Cornelius handed a letter to 10 Downing Street urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to meet her and take immediate action to secure her husband’s release (PA Wire)

After the European Parliament resolution, Sir Iain and his colleagues asked Mr Lammy to “immediately clarify the Government’s position on Mr Cornelius’s case and confirm what steps you will now take to press for his release”.

Specifically, they asked whether the Government would make “strong representations to the UAE on his behalf”, publicly call for his release and impose “targeted” sanctions on those responsible for his detention.

They said: “The UK has a moral and legal duty to act, as well as a diplomatic responsibility to defend its citizens abroad from such mistreatment.

“We urge the Government to act with the utmost urgency to secure his release.”

Sir Iain said it was “vital” for the Government to take “decisive action” to secure Mr Cornelius’s release.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

Foreign Secretary David Lammy ((Jonathan Brady/PA))

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer has previously said the Government would “continue to highlight their concerns” in talks with the UAE and was providing Mr Cornelius with consular assistance, while it took reports of human rights violations “very seriously”.

But the UK’s response to his detention has been criticised by Mr Cornelius’s wife Heather and brother-in-law Chris Pagett.

They said: “For more than 17 years, we have had nothing but defensive waffle from the British Foreign Office.

“The European Parliament has made a strong and direct call to the UAE for Ryan’s release within months of our taking his case to them.

“The contrast is shameful. The British people deserve better.”

It is understood that the Government is supporting Mr Cornelius’s application for clemency, and the issue was raised by the Foreign Secretary during a trip to the UAE in December last year.