DUBAI - A few residents in the UAE, who suffer from terminal illness, have contacted an overseas ‘right-to-die’ organisation in the hope of ending&their lives.

Dr Philip Nitschke, founder of EXIT International, said that his organisation had provided information to residents he would not name about how they could do so with least pain.

‘Assisted suicide’, as the practice is called and which EXIT International enables, is the subject of unresolved debate the world over, with opinion sharply divided over whether a person has the right to end one’s life. The arguments — both for and against — rest on moral, religious and legal grounds.

“Many of them are either terminally ill or worried about what will happen to them when they grow old,” Dr Nitschke told the Khaleej Times in a phone interview from the group’s head office&in Melbourne.

“We provide them with information about what drugs are available and what methods they can use to peacefully end their lives. If there is sufficient interest from the UAE then we would consider holding a&workshop there.”

Nitschke has earned the moniker ‘Dr Death’ in his native Australia, after he became the first to administer lethal injections to four people in 1996, when assisted suicide became temporarily legal in the country.

In order to prevent abuse, membership of EXIT International is restricted to those who are either over 50 or have a terminal illness.

Suicide clinics are illegal in the UAE because taking one’s life is regarded as being equivalent to murder in Islam. Sheikh Arafah, Iman of the Khansahib Mosque in Sharjah, said that suicide was wrong regardless of the reason.

“Allah forbids the killing of a human soul, whether you kill yourself or somebody else,” he said. “In Shariah law, a person who kills someone should be sentenced to death.

Suicide is a great sin. His punishment is the greatest by God.” The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority guidelines to internet service providers, state that websites should be blocked if they contravene the public morals of the country.

However, internet users in the UAE are still able to access the websites of EXIT International and Switzerland-based assisted suicide clinic Dignitas.

Etisalat and Du have an automatic filter for pornographic content, but other questionable sites have to be blocked manually. Neither Etisalat nor Du was unavailable for comment.

Individuals can sign up for membership of EXIT International in exchange for a donation of between Dh160&and Dh430.

As well as information about how to end one’s life, the organisation also offers home visits by volunteers from around the world, who can give advice.

Nitschke said that he has been considering presenting a workshop in the UAE which would outline some of the methods available.

However, he said that there were concerns over whether he would be allowed to enter the country, after police refused to sanction a workshop in Singapore last month.

“We had a very unsatisfactory experience in Singapore,” he said.

“We have to be very careful with issues such as freedom of speech in non-Western countries.” Nitschke was detained at Heathrow Airport in London on May 2, but was later released to conduct a series of workshops in the UK.

Across the world, 4,000 people attended his workshops in 2008.

Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) declined to comment on the record whether he would be allowed access to the country.

Licensing for a public meeting involves several government agencies and it is understood that his entry visa to the country would rest on prior approval for the workshop.

“Many people are worried that they could find themselves in a difficult situation where they have no control over their lives,” he said.

“They seek out information about how they can die peacefully&and quietly.”

He added that a large number of those who seek advice in ending their lives eventually go through with the act.

news@khaleejtimes.com