The standard of ATC in the UAE has dropped in standard in the last ten years more than any other I am associated with. That includes Australasia, North and South Asia, Middle East and Western Europe.
Since the expansion of Emirates, the pressure has been on and the ATC units have not been able to handle it. My personal opinion is that they have not chosen their supervisors well and these people have allowed a policeman like attitude to pervade the controllers on the radio. I have no idea of whether or not there are sufficient numbers of staff and I am well aware of the difficulties of having two cultures in the workplace. However, I believe that whatever the difficulties are, the voice over the radio must remain calm, clear and correct. In my seventeen years of flying into Heathrow, I have never once heard a controller say anything derisive or use a tone that wasn't neutral.
As an example, most of us going there will have heard that arrogant Englishman who is usually on ground control or delivery, and on one occasion trying to do both at the same time, berating people for their English skills and/or missing a minor point from his instructions. I don't know if he volunteered to do both or was forced to run both jobs because of staff shortages. Regardless, his attitude and patronising language belong at best, as he does, in a high school classroom.
As for Ferris's point that pilots are using 'fuel shortages' to jump the queue, the truth is that UAE ATC constantly favours Emirates aircraft in the queue and the only Airline I've heard go in there with a 'minor fuel shortage' was Emirates. In fact Ferris's whole demeanour on this thread is indicative of the new UAE ATC.
To the UAE controllers who use sarcasm and patronising language to those whose first language is not English, I say go home. To those controllers who don't and live with the two cultures at work, this post is not directed at you. It is directed at the unprofessional characters among you and the supervisors who allow them to behave that way.