UAE-Oman Border Conflict

By: Alexa Boyce Buraimi is an Omani city situated directly on the border with Al Ain, UAE. This joint-city is located in the center of what has been known for hundreds or thousands of years as the 'Buraimi Oasis'. Originally made up of six tribes, half of which were loyal to the Sultan of Oman and the other half were loyal to the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi. The national borderlines were drawn in 1972 to separate these two groups. The border actually runs through the downtown area, but customs are on the outskirts of Buraimi so that one may easily walk between Buraimi in Al Ain in the UAE. However, for the last 5 years, rumors have been spreading that the UAE intends to position regular border guards along the Al Ain-Buraimi border. No one seemed to know for sure what the case was, and nothing ever happened. However, back in September, rumors became stronger and more conclusive that something was going to happen very soon along the border. AmeriSpan's school in Al Ain was forced to move its classes into the homes of host families in Buraimi, as all but one of the teachers lived on the Oman side of the border. This political situation caused us to temporarily discontinue our Al Ain program. This is unfortunate because a student traveling last spring said about the program, "I cannot compliment this school more; absolutely effective and patient instructors and extremely disciplined to make sure that students don't use English as a crutch." If the border problems continue, the school may permanently move into Buraimi. For now, AmeriSpan offers very popular Arabic programs in Cairo, Egypt and Fez, Morocco. A good site for historical facts about Buraimi and Al Ain go here.