Dubai deports group over nude balcony photoshoot

The emirate of Dubai announced Tuesday it will deport a number of people arrested for public debauchery after a naked photo shoot.

Photos and video footage posted online last week showed at least 18 foreign women posing naked in an apartment in the Dubai Marina area.

"The public prosecution office has completed investigations on a recently publicised photo shoot, which contravened UAE law," the Dubai Media Office said in a tweet.

"The individuals involved will be deported from the United Arab Emirates. No further comment shall be made on the matter."

Dubai police issued a statement on Saturday that a group of people who appeared in an "indecent video" shared online were arrested.

It warned that such behaviour was "unacceptable" and did "not reflect the values and ethics of Emirati society".

Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, is best known for its palm-shaped islands, over-the-top luxury hotels and parties.

More than 90 percent of the emirate's 3.3 million population are foreigners.

While the UAE is considered one of the more open-minded Gulf nations, pornography and "any other material that may prejudice public morals" is illegal.

Late last year, the UAE revamped an array of laws in a social liberalisation drive designed to burnish its progressive brand.

While rarely enforced, it reduced sentences for so-called "honour" killings, most victims of which are women seen as having brought shame on their families.

Other sweeping changes include the lifting of a ban on unmarried couples living together, an easing restrictions on alcohol consumption, and the decriminalisation of suicide.