Tourists visiting Dubai must now complete new online form detailing medication they carry – or risk prison

THE government is warning Brits travelling to Dubai to fill out a new document if they are carrying certain medication.

If they do not complete the new online form, they could face trouble from the police.

The that the UAE’s Ministry of Health is now asking tourists to “obtain online approval to carry medication for personal use, prior to entering the country."

The items include both prescribed and over the counter medicines that are considered to be controlled substances within the UAE.

Medications that are banned include anti-anxiety drugs such as diazepam that are only available on prescription in the UK, however some over-the-counter cold remedies are also on the banned list, as well as common acne treatment roaccutane.

Advice from the website reads: “Following changes in October 2018, the UAE Ministry of Health announced the requirement for all tourists and residents entering the UAE to complete an  to obtain online approval to carry medication for personal use, prior to entering the country."

It continues: “The Ministry of Health has also published a user guide explaining how to complete the application and the supporting documents required.

“The British Embassy is currently requesting further information on this process and whether it is required for all types of medication.

“If you arrive in the UAE without this permission and the required documentation, the medication will not be allowed into the UAE and you may be prosecuted under UAE law"

According to the Ministry of Health , visitors can bring up to three months’ supply of medication, or up to one months’ supply if the medicine is classed as controlled by the UAE."

Dubai is known for its super strict laws - with holidaymakers imprisoned for a number offences in recent years that would be considered either minor or non-existent here in the UK.

Cancer sufferer Perry Coppins endured five weeks in a Dubai jail last November after a customs official in Dubai thought he had taken illegal amounts of his anti-anxiety prescription medication into the country.

The father of three from Eastwood, Nottingham was carrying his medicine, which is legal in the United Arab Emirates with a prescription.

But officers insisted on testing him anyway and when they found drugs in his system, they put him behind bars.

Meanwhile, Mum Ellie Holman was thrown in jail after drinking one glass of wine on a flight to Dubai from the UK earlier this year.

Ellie, 44, from Sevenoaks, Kent, was arrested by immigration officials after her eight hour flight touched down at Dubai International Airport.

The dentist claims she was thrown in a "baking hot and foul smelling" airport detention centre and her little girl Bibi was forced to go to the toilet on the cell floor.

Dr Holman spent three days in a detention centre with her daughter, where she heard accounts from other inmates of being raped by guards.

Dubai isn't the only country with strict laws on drugs - British woman Laura Plummer is currently in prison in Egypt after she brought nearly 300 Tramadol pills into the country.

Sun Online Travel previously revealed whether it's safe or not to travel to Dubai after claims that missiles could target the UAE.

There's also the latest guidelines on drinking alcohol in the UAE - and whether it's legal or not to do so.