How’s the situation in Dubai going?

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Illustrious-You1869@reddit

As someone who lives in Dubai and is British/iranian, I would fully leave to Uk if I had a house but I’ll be honest the media does it make out to be much worse than it actually is with regards to how dangerous it is to currently live here. I genuinely feel like the gov here does so well with protecting the people like yes credit where credit is due though everything can change within a moment and this really applies to any country. If I could leave I would because why not. The expat dream isn’t over imo if this would be the end, people have such short memories.

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eerst@reddit

Let's be real. They have not protected you. The Iranian regime has been kind in not more deliberately targeting critical infrastructure with cheap drones.

Life in the Gulf countries was always marginal. There’s a reason they didn’t figure in the broader context of world history when their immediate neighbours were so impactful (Israel/Palestine, Persia, Lebanon, what is now Iraq, parts of Pakistan and Turkey). The discovery of oil in the mid 20th century made it marginal but affordable. Now folks are realising that it’s marginal and affordable but the risk has always been there, just out of view. It's too hot for modern civilisation without aircon. And there's no fresh water. It's a moon base reliant on everyone in the neighbourhood getting along.

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Illustrious-You1869@reddit

I’m not oblivious to the fact that if Iran wanted to cause actual damage they can. I’m well aware especially as an Iranian but I still commend the efforts uae has done to prevent as much damage as they physically can and for whatever motive.

Yup you’re correct life in gcc has always been marginal but personally i wouldn’t write off these countries. The future is long but to each their own.

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eerst@reddit

The future is dangerous and hot.

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Pinknailzz69@reddit

I lived for 20 years in Saudi and Qatar. Defence consultant and instructor pilot (ex-mil) so I am very aware of the military context of the “latest” fight. I used to laugh at people who asked me if I’d buy a place and live there permanently. I said my goal is to siphon off enough oil money and get the hell out. There’s only a 7 day supply of water in any of those countries and it requires foreign labour, technology, electricity and oil to keep it going. Modern society relies on cooling. I was trained in and practiced desert survival and survived two previous combat zones. Your description of the place being a “moonbase” is the most accurate description I have ever heard. The issue is 99% of people don’t realize the thin veneer of civilization that keeps it working. It is a house of cards that will not survive generationally unless massive change occurs. I got out in 2024. Well done on your description!!

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eerst@reddit

Thanks for confirming my assessment!

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dudload1000@reddit

Finally some sense amongst the delusion

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

out of curiosity, why is owning a house the condition of not living in the UK? Is it really that awful renting there? Is there something preventing you from owning property in the UK? (I know property costs are extremely high in London, but I have friends in other cities in the UK who weren't wealthy who managed to save up for a down payment on a house in a smaller city).

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Illustrious-You1869@reddit

we moved as a family from London to Dubai but we were renting all the time there so hope is to go back when we have enough saved up to buy a house and live there. Renting sucks and we have had worst experience and lots of uncertainty though that could just be our luck. Yeah UK houses aren’t as expensive relative to London but can’t imagine living anywhere but London.

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

oh, well I guess if you would only live in london I could see why. Shame the UK isn't more decentralized so that people could feel good moving to other cities in it. fingers crossed you can save up enough for a solid down payment.

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TheBiscuitMen@reddit

There's plenty of good/better places to live in the UK other than London.. not sure if op has even tried.

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Illustrious-You1869@reddit

I definitely don’t doubt that, I don’t think London is the ‘best’ place in UK, it’s more that it’s where my siblings and I grew up so it’s where we’d want to continue if we could. I have family in parts of Scotland who love it there.

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kittyprincessunique@reddit

There are many wonderful cities in the UK, I am from Italy originally and lived in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester. I would say out of those, London was the one I enjoyed the least (I rented in each of these cities and have now bought a house up north). All were major cities with airports, loads of restaurants, good train connections and good expat communities.

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

this could be the case, as my friends like them. However this is not the first Brit I've talked to who would only live in London so I assume its also due to the fact that the UK is more centralized with its economic activity and productivity than others.

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HungryGhost5000@reddit

To answer your question, "how's the situation?" here in the UAE.

It's not as bad as Western media makes out, and it's not as good as local UAE media makes out here.

There are many people trying to flee (myself included), hotels are down to 20% occupancy (usually they're around 80%). My friend runs a travel agency. Her business is now ZERO.

Ignore these influencers like Ian Miles Cheong with their dumbass videos showing "busy" restaurants and public spaces. They're not busy as usual. And most of those videos were during Iftar anyway.

Of course they will be busy during Iftar. Local people still live here and still eat.

Same goes for malls.

Not EVERYONE is fleeing the country, but the decimation of the tourism industry speaks volumes. As does the drop in property values and the rapid selling off of assets by residents.

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mutantninja001@reddit

Oh wow. People are already selling property?

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HungryGhost5000@reddit

Some. But mostly, people are buying less.

And by "assets" i also mean their personal belongings, vehicles, etc.

Just look on the UAE / Dubai subreddits and you'll see a lot of "urgent" sales.

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Defiant-Dare1223@reddit

If I was in a more flexible time of life I'd be jumping at a fire sale there.

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mutantninja001@reddit

sad

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

Accurate

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SaleemNasir22@reddit

I'm here in Dubai, and this is accurate. The most on-point explanation of how it is. It's not bad, but certainly not good either. It's quieter, and things aren't thriving as they were. That said, we are all relatively safe. It just feels like a weird, covid-era time, but you can still go out and do everything as normal if you wish to.

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n3fzina@reddit

Tell him stay until he can’t. Starting over somewhere else is worse

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boredandpoor@reddit

I can chip in here as a Westerner who's been here 12 years, making it longer than I've lived anywhere else. My partner has been here for 28 years, more or less her whole life.

The first few days were incredibly scary, especially without our current knowledge of how effective the UAE's air defenses are. I woke up on Saturday excited to play the new WoW expansion and then there were multiple interceptions over our area. Queue frantic news searching, a billion WhatsApp messages, fear, stress, inability to sleep and worry about the future. This phase of 24/7 stress, at least for me, lasted about two weeks.

Missile interceptions happening near or above your area are loud, sudden, and depending on how close it happens it'd shake the whole apartment block, which is pretty unneverving. You'd feel the shockwave go through your windows and rattle the doors. For me at least, every instinct in my brain would shout 'big danger' and it'd take me a little while to come down off the adrenaline.

We probably would've left temporarily in the first two weeks had it not been for our cats, who we wouldn't even consider leaving behind.

It's strange, because there's always been a subtle tension between the UAE, Iran and its proxy groups, so if you'd have asked me beforehand what my plan would've been had this happened, I would've said I'd be on the first flight out. In reality, it's extremely difficult to leave when your home, items, pets, car, friends, job, and general sense of belonging are tied to a place. It's also incredibly expensive, throws your career up in the air... and you're trying to plan this all while sleep-deprived, with missile alerts rattling out of your phone and booms happening overhead. It sucks. Wouldn't recommend.

I'm no fan of the UAE sycophantism and the 'everything's fine habibi' posturing, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extremely grateful to the country's forces for doing their best to keep everyone safe. I've got a close friend in the military, and they say the Air Force and I'm sure other arms have just been non-stop (as expected I guess). My heart does go out to them.

I know reddit hates the UAE and seems to think everyone here is either a 1%er, crypto bro, influencer or a slave, but the vast majority of people here are just like folks anywhere--going to work, hanging out with friends, cooking recipes off TikTok, playing video games, seeing what's on in the cinema. It's not all intentional tax evasion and Lambos. Most people, like anywhere, end up where they are because of family/circumstance/opportunity.

As it stands, we're sticking around. Yes, it's not 100% safe. No, it's not as easy to just up and leave somewhere you're nestled down in. Yes, there is an element of gambling with statistics in order to keep the little life we've built. But luckily, the statistics, for now, show that fatalities and injuries are still unlikely in civilian areas.

Airports are open and flights for now are readily available for anyone wondering. Colleagues are still taking vacations and nipping off for a break etc.

The city feels... fine. Most places are still open and operating. Malls, cafes, restaurants, residential areas are still full of people, just less than before. They're in no way empty.

Anyway. That's it. I acknowledge that so many residents have had a different experience and have different appetites for risk, and I don't blame those who've decided to leave.

As far as the 'Dubai dream' being over... Dubai's image has undoubtedly taken a hit, and will take a while to recover (if it even does fully), but for those of us who have been here a long time making it harder to leave, we're kind of looking forward to less traffic, lower rent prices and less influencers lmao. At least I am.

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astronaute1337@reddit

I’m living in Dubai right now. Absolutely nothing changed except few missile alert here and there and some loud interception booms. No civil infrastructure is attacked intentionally, and everything is mostly business as usual, traffic on the roads, restaurants, no parking available next to beaches etc.

Some people left on holidays early (summer is usually when expats travel here), schools are remote so that helps.

My life is pretty much normal and I don’t notice anything unusual other than maybe 10-15% less people in the malls.

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

Are you not concerned about escalation.

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astronaute1337@reddit

No because Iran never behaved like Israel. Israel is the only entity in the region constantly targeting civilians and sabotaging negotiations. They just did it again by bombing poor people of Lebanon, it’s really sad. Iran doesn’t do anything remotely similar. They only attack military targets and that’s why they are virtually no casualties other than few unlucky ones death because of debris.

If there is an entity to be afraid of, not because they are strong and fearless, but because they are shameless and vicious, it’s Israel.

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

Yes I agree and Israel not stopping will inevitably only end up in Iran having to escalate their attacks too. They have shown restraint to this point. But I imagine their patience will have to run out at some point.

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astronaute1337@reddit

They never attacked civilians, there absolutely no indications they would ever engage in such attacks.

People got used to actions from Israel and think everyone acts similarly.

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Agitated_Tie6444@reddit

When the president of America, threatens to bomb a country back to the stone age. Maybe with nukes. It's really scary things that things can esclate very fast.

This is not normal, but many of us don't have an option to go back.

I want to believe things will go back to the way there were before. But i know those dreams are over.

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astronaute1337@reddit

I agree, but personally I’m not afraid of Iran because they don’t have history of attacking civilians. So far, only Israel has done that systematically and continues doing it.

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dom_eden@reddit

This is exactly my experience too. Friends the other night had to wait 30 mins for a table

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Unlucky_Apple_3907@reddit

People I know that have lived in Dubai or 10+ years are staying put but some are waiting till summer to make the final call

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

I'm an expat living in Hong Kong, but I have a friend who is an expat who lives in Dubai teaching English.

They told me verbatim they're in it for the long haul. They're dating a local and like their life. They're an adult and fully capable of making their own decisions. They told me (at recently as a week ago) that the atmosphere feels similarly to Covid lockdown era, but they don't feel unsafe.

Having lived in China and Hong Kong for 10 years altogether, I get why people stay in countries/cities that have a lot of turmoil happening in them or even hyped up doomer mentality (not saying that the doomer mentality it necessary the case here, but no one has a crystal ball).

People don't like to leave a place they consider home and have planted roots in, no matter how transient, problematic, or chaotic the city/country is. I respect their decision because what leg do I have to stand on?

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Patient_Leopard421@reddit

If your friend is a man then they are almost certainly not dating a "local". Emirati women do not date non-Gulf Arabs.

And that's even true for the emirati women whose fathers married outside local e.g. a European. That was common (especially for a second wife).

"Locals" were very insular.

He may be dating an Arab woman who grew up in Dubai. She's likely a resident but not a national. That happens. But she still holds another passport, e.g. Lebanese, Moroccan.

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Jumpzy@reddit

I'm a gulf Arab woman married to a non-Arab man. Please don't generalise it's not as rare as you think it is.

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Patient_Leopard421@reddit

Incredibly rare.

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Jumpzy@reddit

Not really. You just aren't exposed to it enough.

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Patient_Leopard421@reddit

Estimate the prevalence. 1:100 or 1:1000?

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Precious_Angel999@reddit

You aren’t a citizen of UAE though

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Jumpzy@reddit

I am not but I am from a gulf Arab country where people make the same assumptions and generalisations about us.

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Introverted-Gazelle@reddit

Exactly! I’m Arab and even an Emirati wouldn’t date me lol

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

My friend is a woman and she says he is a local so I can only assume he is. My friend converted to Islam a while back and has lived in Kuwait before in the 2010s so she isn't unfamiliar with the customs or people in that region. Yet, I am also well aware that 90% of the population in Dubai is foreign, so I understand where you are coming from.

It could be he is dual passport but I'm not going to tell someone they're not a local or label them that way if they grew up in a place their whole lives and happen to have dual passport status.

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Pinknailzz69@reddit

If “dating” includes sex she is being used by a local man while his family finds him a wife from a suitable tribe. If there’s no sex there’s a chance dating might lead to a relationship but it’s doubtful.

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

they're in a serious relationship and your assumptions about their relationship are bleak at best, and beyond the scope of the discuss at hand.

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Pinknailzz69@reddit

Sure. Just thought I would offer up from my experience. I lived in the Middle East for 20 years and saw many misunderstandings about local relationships. Women get hurt. That’s all. Sorry if my comments were not helpful.

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

I understand. Your comments were out of bounds but I appreciate the sentiment. My friend is not young and isn't naive, and extremely willful. I don't have any signs that this guy is up to no good, but of course women try to look out for other women.

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Pinknailzz69@reddit

Good. That’s all I was suggesting. In arab societies families and tribes are the prime determinant in relationship issues. Many sad women learned the hard way that when it came down to forsaking a foreign women or family approval, the family wins everytime.

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nihongoal@reddit

please ask your friend to be careful. I read the story about someone who thought they were dating a local and got married to him who later turned out to be a Pakistani citizen.

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

I always tell my friend to be careful, but she is also a grown woman with her own judgment. He seems fine. On another note, I've found the more I tell my friends to be wary of the people they're dating, they just date them harder. Maybe I'm dogshit at giving my 2 cents🤣

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MudDifficult2911@reddit

I don't think so, Dubai will be over so easily. They will rebuild all the damages which has been made. Just for the time being its better to move out to your home town to be safe.

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YouHot2@reddit

Dubai residents are in denial

They want to convince the world everything is ok

Otherwise all the foreigners will lose their jobs and be forced to return home

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

This is how I feel. Moved my family to stay with relatives for the time being. Hoping for improvement soon. Otherwise the dream is over

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dudload1000@reddit

What's the dream exactly? Living in a desert under an autocratic regime?

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elysiancat@reddit

Thats how it might be for you and others, but as someone from a poor country I can tell you its a lot better than where I am from. I have a lot of friends working in Dubai and they wouldn’t even consider leaving and their jobs and lives there are better than what they had at home. Its not all black and white for everybody

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lekkerbiscottina@reddit

Right like a lot of westerners who say this don't understand that people from the poorest countries in the world go to the UAE to support their families. There is little employment choice for them sometimes in their countries, and they're treated like shit, but it can be life-changing.

Fair enough if you want to yell at westerners for going to live a fake luxury influencer life in Dubai but it's a lot easier to get a work visa for UAE as a Filipino than anywhere in Europe/US.

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elysiancat@reddit

Yeah lately because of the situation, I saw a lot of similar comments (wondering why anyone would willingly work in the middle east) and it makes me sad and frustrated, for a lot of us it could be the best option possible atm, its easy to have the luxury of choice when you come from a western/developed country. Nobody gives any thought to others with few options or tell people to prefer jobs in Europe/USA/whatever…like it is so easy to get a job and visa there.

Sorry for the rant, its just on my mind lately, especially as I am looking for a job there too and I’m well aware its better than staying in my home country.

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drkslr@reddit

it was safe before , and most people that moved was to avoid taxes , you pay no taxes there you understand?

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dom_eden@reddit

How do you know it’s not safe? Do you live in Dubai

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Low_Boss1097@reddit

My brother just moved back from Dubai and I’m so grateful we were able to convince him. I get it for people that have no where to go but for people who have safe places to go and a refusing - it’s so crazy. You can always go back, how can you gamble with your life like that.

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roaming_adventurer@reddit

From the uk still here in uae, not as bad as people make it, looking at the current state of the uk and whats going on there i would rather take my chances here.

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dudload1000@reddit

Hahaha, good one.

Prefer to be bombed rather than a remote chance of having your iPhone nicked in Oxford Circus? Not a serious person

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dom_eden@reddit

Yeah they are serious, would rather be in the UAE than in the UK with its clown government, insane taxes and feral underclass

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dudload1000@reddit

Sure, choose an autocratic government, a desert that relies solely on desalination that is getting bombed by a neighbour that will likely now ramp up it's hybrid war efforts against it. "Feral underclass" - happy you've left - don't come back

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roaming_adventurer@reddit

People survived here for centuries before the desalination plants, theres so many wells in the mountains. Honestly Whats happening in the ground is completely the opposite of what you’re seeing on the news. Oman Yemen Saudi all couple of hours away by road. Even if anything was to happen it wont be the end of the world for us! Living here in the 50 degrees heat has become the norm for us!

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dudload1000@reddit

Why do you have desalination plants now? Perhaps something to do with the wells not being able to sustain the current population?

What's so good about being Yemen, Oman and Saudi being close by road?

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dom_eden@reddit

Not planning coming back. Sounds like you're part of the underclass that I left behind. Have fun making up for my lost taxes though 👋

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dudload1000@reddit

Haha - believe what you wanna believe. Im sure my taxes more than make up for yours - one less prick in the country and another to add to Dubai. Works for everyone

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roaming_adventurer@reddit

Its not just having your iphone nicked, the constant state of fear that your car wont get robbed or broken into or worrying about if your house will get robbed when your out, the mrs almost got mugged when gong to work and she has a phobia now of walking around alone, the kids at home because the kids outside want to play knock door run, the list just goes on. Yes I do want to go back but at least when its better

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dudload1000@reddit

You are not serious people. Where on earth did you live that you were worried about being robbed in every way possible? Lived in central London for 20 years and have had nothing stolen.

Almost got mugged so has a phobia, lol!

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Telecom_VoIP_Fan@reddit

Yes, Dubai is under attack, but they have a well-developed anti-missile defense. If you take personal security into account, it is still safer than London in my opinion.

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dudload1000@reddit

Personal safety doesn't include being blown up by a missile in your opinion?

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Telecom_VoIP_Fan@reddit

I have confidence in the competence of the civil defense forces in Dubai and the systems at their disposal. Yes, the missiles have caused damage, but civilian casualties have been relatively few. It is probably a personal thing, but I still think Dubai safer than the streets of London today.

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dudload1000@reddit

So many of you trot this same line - bot farm?

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tvish@reddit

Where would your friends even go with a “Go Bag” from Dubai? What would the escape path look like, because I assume the Air and Sea path is closed.

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Agitated_Tie6444@reddit

No body know the future. A go back is just to keep your documents and valuables with you in case of an emergency.

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

I was there with my young family until around the second week of it. By then we had had enough. The sleepless nights and alerts and thuds had worn down my body and mind. Was feeling extremely anxious. So we packed a lot of our things and are trying to wait it out at relatives in Europe. Trouble is now vacation days are spent work expects me back. I will not go back until it improves. So not sure if I’ll has a job to go back to sadly. I’m pissed companies are not looking after people. They just want you to go back to office and pretend it’s all normal. Now I have to decide between safety and mental health vs financial security. It’s brutal. I just want your lives back.

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Agitated_Tie6444@reddit

I understand how you feel, everyone wants their family to be safe. Most of us who are here are here because of our jobs. And as the oil prices rise, everything is going to get expensive and can't risk being out of a job right now.

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werchoosingusername@reddit

This conflict showed Dubai and its neighbors that fell for a fake protection deal with US.

Dubai forums in social media are strictly controlled and kept free of any negativity.

It was a hyped place which is going now through a cooling down period. Time will tell how the future will look like.

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GreasedUPDoggo@reddit

Yikes, this is a dishonest take. What protection would you like for small drones? A magic wand? UAE is in fact safe from invasion or even air raids. But you want to pretend the US has a magic wand against cheap drones. Which is just plain silly.

Overall, Dubai is quite safe.

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Planet_Pluto_1925@reddit

How safe is it to be in a war?

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dom_eden@reddit

Go and calculate your risk from dying in a car crash and then go and calculate your risk from dying from a missile attack. You are far more likely to die in a car crash. Humans are terrible at calculating real life risk - hence why so many are scared of flying etc.

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Planet_Pluto_1925@reddit

Where I live, the difference between dying from a missile or having something destroyed near me, or get stuck in the country is zero, we are not in a war

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dom_eden@reddit

It's not zero, is it? zero probability indicates that you don't understand statistics.

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TheRealGypo@reddit

There’s that denial people have been referring to

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Cojemos@reddit

Was thinking this. The Gulf states sold out their souls for "protection" of their oil to only be fooled.

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Top-Half7224@reddit

Who do you think is buying and using all of this oil with their big SUVs?

Money has raised a lot of these gulf states out of religious extremism, they are imperfect, but so much better off than they were 40 years ago. All that has been thrown into chaos.

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dom_eden@reddit

Been here for 18 months now, was out of the country when it kicked off as was on holiday but came back as scheduled in early March. It’s fine here really, phone is on airplane mode so the alerts don’t interrupt me and I sleep with earplugs in anyway so don’t get woken up. Even so I very rarely hear any interception thuds - virtually everything is intercepted. Would much rather be here than being back in the UK. Roads are a bit quieter but restaurants are still busy.

Hand on heart, I can’t honestly say that I’m particularly stressed or anxious about the situation, life here is going on as normal and you’d be hard pressed to know there was a war going on. Yes there are fewer tourists for sure but that’s likely because travel insurance doesn’t cover this situation. The actual risk on the ground is very very low - lower than your chances to dying in a car crash.

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Zealousideal_Rub6758@reddit

A few cheap Iranian drones could destroy the whole city if they attack desalination plants. Its a risky choice at the moment in my opinion.

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

That's a last resort by Iran though because they also rely on desalination to a degree. They don't want to open the floodgates to a water war unless absolutely pressed by Israel and the US. This could come to pass, but stopping the flow of petroleum, oil, aluminum and other materials and resources will most likely have the effect they desire without having to execute those tactics

then again, no one has a crystal ball.😮‍💨

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

They don’t rely on desalination

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Halo_of_Light@reddit

They're expanding their salinisation efforts in the southern regions that have notable water scarcity. It wouldn't be in their best interest to go full water wars when they too have water scarcity issues they are trying to allay with desalinisation

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astronaute1337@reddit

Luckily, Iran doesn’t behave like Israel, and there is no risk for that to ever happen.

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FinestTreesInDa7Seas@reddit

And the worst part is that people in UAE have few options to escape the country in an emergency.

If UAE's airports had to shut down due to an emergency, there are not many high-traffic international airports close by that could handle the traffic of people escaping. Oman's international airports are relatively small.

I would not want to be in a scenario where my hopes are pinned on the Saudis helping out.

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dbvbtm@reddit

It's always been a shit hole, now it's just a dangerous shit hole.

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StraightPin4420@reddit

I was living in Dubai and apart from occasional boom everything was normal. I left for a holiday and to visit family and now with the ceasefire I’m excited to go back

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dudload1000@reddit

Aaah yes, everything normal apart from the occasional high explosive device detonating randomly

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gov12@reddit

Middle East ceasefire is any oxymoron.

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miskeeneh@reddit

Did the ceasefire include the UAE? Seems there were still alerts happening today

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StraightPin4420@reddit

Yes it does however it will take a few days to completely take effect because Iran military is decentralised

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

The crease fire is a joke. Dont expect it to hold

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Mental-Respond1700@reddit

I get it — this is exactly the kind of thing that spirals fast. Do the boring admin first: visa path, taxes, healthcare and housing. People get burned when they optimise for vibes and ignore the paperwork. Off the record, most expensive relocation mistakes happen because people choose vibes first and admin second. Get the admin right and the rest gets much easier.

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Embarrassed_Sea4297@reddit

"Brand Dubai"now has a big image problem. My main beef with it has always been that it is an unnatural environment for that many people to be living in (ala Las Vegas) and that is wrong. Without desal plants and everything being flown in it would be abandoned within a month or less. There's also quite a bit of Schadefraude happening because everyone there has been telling their family and friends how wonderful life is in Dubai. So to see it shaken to the core pleases a lot of us.

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StraightPin4420@reddit

Seeing innocent civilians possibly get harmed by a war pleases you?

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TheRealGypo@reddit

Born and raised here, currently here with my entire family and it’s tense to say the least.

Everyone tries to go on with their life, but everyone also knows that things are uncertain right now. I’ve personally thought of possible escape strategies (like for last night before the ceasefire was thankfully agreed on), but apart from that, me and my family are here for the long haul. They were around during the Gulf War and saw how the tiny city of Dubai became a ghost town back then, and I was around during Covid, when Dubai became a ghost town too. I wouldn’t say it’s like either of those situations exactly, but maybe a bit of both.

The city’s still going on as usual. People are out and about, and the people living here seem to be enjoying that quieter, slightly less hectic city. The people I know who wanted to leave have already gone, so I think all those left are either a little battle hardened, or would prefer to be here as opposed to their home countries. I think everyone does acknowledge how this poses a threat to the “image” of Dubai. We’ve never had rockets fired at us before, so this is all uncharted territory. Time will tell what happens. The ceasefire is one step in a positive direction, but still a long ways away from restoring the safety net that used to exist before this war.

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HungryGhost5000@reddit

I live in the UAE. I am getting out of here at the first opportunity. I have been offered a job in Europe but the stupid company is dragging their heels with the visa process.

Must be nice to sit on one's ass eating tapas and getting paid while hires are uncertain about their existence.

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Suspicious-Book-1014@reddit

A friend of mine lives in Dubai and is originally from the UK, they left their apartment and car behind and fled.

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Wild_Excitement_9940@reddit

they just left it?

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Nofanta@reddit

Well now we know it’s not a safe place. With no military to defend it and terrorists all around you have to assume the worst could happen anytime.

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SeanBourne@reddit

I know someone who moved there with his young family in the last year. Checked in with him a week or two ago to see how they’re doing. From what he said, it didn’t seem like it was as bad as advertised on the news. On the flip side, the guy grew up in a very dysfunctional country (that is now basically failed-state adjacent) and there’s a non-zero probability he’s (ex?) intelligence - so his tolerance may vary.

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