Hailan was a student at the Dubai Police College and a student in Sharia and Law, where he studied for ten years. He was supposed to graduate in 2020, only a few months after his arrest.

On September 23, 2019, he was arrested at Mezyad Border Post in Abu Dhabi as he was returning from Yemen to the UAE to continue his degree. As Hailan arrived at the Mezyad Border Post, he was arrested by security forces who assaulted him. Hailan was neither presented with an arrest warrant nor provided with an explanation for the reasons behind his arrest. Afterwards, he was then taken to an unknown location and tortured by the security forces and investigators in front of other detainees.

Hailan was arrested at the border because some individuals he was in conflict with filed a false report on Hailan to the UAE, accusing him of having joined the Houthis, in order to prevent him from graduating and force him to return to his home country.

Hailan was then taken to al-Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi, where he was tortured by investigators and members of the state security forces. He was prevented from having a lawyer and was only brought before a judge once, and the encounter took place virtually via video chat on a computer, which lasted for about five minutes. The judge did not inform Hailan’s family of the reasons for his detention. We do not know if he was brought before a judge since then or if he has been tried in court. Hailan was denied any contact with the outside world for six months following his arrest. After those six months, he was allowed to call his family once a month for seven minutes.

The last time his family was in touch with Hailan was on July 20, 2020, through a short phone call from al-Wathba prison.

On January 29, 2024, MENA Rights Group submitted his case to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to call on the UAE for his immediate release and the disclosure of his fate and whereabouts.