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Non-profit trying to free Houston woman in Dubai
FOX 26 Reporter Damali Keith spoke with the non-profit about what's going on in an effort to free a Houston woman who is currently being held in Dubai.
HOUSTON - An international non-profit organization is coming to the aid of a Houston woman, who’s being detained in Dubai. Only On Fox 26, we recently told you about Tierra Young Allen, who was charged with yelling at a rental car agent in Dubai.
The founder of a London-based not-for-profit organization is now trying to help free Tierra Young Allen in Dubai, and get her back to the United States, believes what’s happening goes beyond a law simply being enforced.
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"The agency actually said to her, they’d drop the police case if she paid money. So it’s a form of extortion and blackmail, and it’s extremely common with these rental car companies," says CEO of the group Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling.
Obviously, Stirling doesn’t have proof of a scheme against 29-year-old Tierra Young Allen, but Stirling says she’s seen it before since founding the non-profit group, Detained In Dubai, 15 years ago.
"I founded Detained in Dubai when a friend of mine was wrongfully detained, and we raised these issues of injustice, corruption and of malicious prosecution. We’ve dealt with over 20,000 cases of injustice in the UAE and wider gulf region," Stirling explains.
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Allen is not in jail, but her passport was taken in April. She isn’t allowed to leave Dubai since she’s being investigated after allegedly raising her voice at a rental car agent.
"She’s being charged for shouting, which is actually a crime technically under the UAE laws. It’s offensive behavior, and it can warrant up to two years in prison," explains Stirling.
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This all started after Allen’s mom says her daughter was a passenger in a rental car there in Dubai and the driver had a wreck. She then went to the rental car company to get her belongings left in the vehicle.
"She was met with two men at the rental car agency who were quite aggressive, who said she couldn’t have her possessions back, and then she says they started intimidating her and following her out. So she shouted back at them to stop, to leave her alone," explains Stirling who says she believes Allen and others are baited into certain behavior, which she says just doesn’t happen with major rental car companies there.
"It’s usually the luxury rental car or the private rental car companies, and they have a pattern of behavior of taking allegations against their customers, withholding their passports at the front desk and provoking them," Stirling says, unlike Allen, she was recently contacted by other Americans who did pay.
"They paid over $20,000 to this rental car company that they didn’t owe. So it’s something we’re seeing again and again," says the founder of the non-profit.
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Stirling and Allen’s family are soliciting help from Texas lawmakers. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee confirms she’s working to assist.
Senator Ted Cruz’s office says, "We have spoken to the family of Tierra Young Allen and have contacted the Department of State about the case. Sen. Cruz will continue to gather details and engage on this case until Ms. Allen is returned home to her family."