Death in Dubai: 2. Not the first to die

World of Secrets

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.7 • 765 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Monic’s relative heads to the UAE, like her, in pursuit of a dream. But soon after, news of her death shatters everything. Devastated and distrusting of the police’s account, Michael takes the search for truth into his own hands leading to a dramatic confrontation.

This episode contains strong language.

Presented by investigative journalist Runako Celina.

Season 9 of World of Secrets, Death in Dubai, is a BBC Eye investigation, produced in association with Thread Studios, for the BBC World Service.

Please note, the image is being used for illustrative purposes only and the person depicted in it is a model.

If you feel distressed by the references in this story, please speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support such as Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org

For UK listeners, details of organisations offering information about or support after sexual abuse, or with feelings of despair, are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. Here’s a link to the BBC Eye documentary film, which we recommend you watch after listening to this podcast: https://bit.ly/bbcdeathindubai

If you are in the UK, you can watch on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n12t256jg

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:06.0	Episodes of World of Secrets are released weekly, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:11.8	But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the full season right now first on BBC Sounds.
0:18.5	And just to give you a heads up, this episode has some strong language.
0:28.7	It's the weekend before Monica leaves for Dubai.
0:32.2	And her family are throwing her a farewell party on their farm in Uganda.
0:36.6	They've slaughtered a goat and drinks are being prepared.
0:39.3	Monica's helping get food ready and playing with the kids.
0:43.3	She's excited.
0:45.3	But someone important isn't here yet.
0:48.3	A relative who's been like a father figure since her dad passed away.
0:52.3	So Monica goes looking for him.
0:56.0	She finds Michael weeding in the banana plantation nearby,
1:00.0	and she tells him her big news.
1:02.0	She was like, at last I have got a job in Dubai.
1:07.0	I says, oh wow, that's good.
1:10.0	You're going with the company?
1:11.9	No, she tells him.
1:13.4	A close friend has got me a job working in a supermarket.
1:16.9	So then I was like, how long have you been knowing this guy?
1:21.8	She said, yes, I've been friends for long since I've been a company.
1:26.1	And he has also friends in Dubai,
	...

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