Dubai: Six months into the Middle East war, the army of foreign workers and expats in the Gulf has largely stayed put — hoping to ride out the uncertainty caused by conflict rather than return to dim prospects back home.
For most of the oil-rich Gulf states, foreigners from Global South countries make up the majority of the population, forming the bedrock of the economy as high-end consultants, manual labourers, healthcare professionals and everything in between.
Making it to the Gulf, where salaries are higher than at home, and untaxed, has long been a dream for those lucky enough to secure visas and employment. But the war, which has killed 41 people in the Gulf, has proven to be incredibly disruptive for many.
In the UAE, Dubai’s service and tourism sectors have faced layoffs and salary cuts, and schools shifted to remote learning periodically, while in Kuwait many people skipped their summer holidays to avoid being trapped abroad due to air travel disruptions.
The ride has been bumpy but most people have chosen to see it through, come what may.
“I stayed because I had no other option,” a Syrian woman in her thirties, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.
Even with the war and a salary cut, the options in Dubai are incomparable to those in Syria’s shattered economy.
“Dubai is the place to be, to be secure, to hustle, to make money, to save — and that opportunity is not provided back home,” she said.
“Most of us are here because… it was just unlivable where we came from.”
Like many people from the Global South working in the Gulf, her parents in Syria rely on her monthly remittances to make ends meet.
In the early weeks of the war, the UAE bore the brunt of Iran’s wrath. Although the UAE shot down the large majority of the nearly 3,000 drones and missiles directed at the country, the war rattled its image as a haven of stability in a tumultuous Middle East.
More than 60,000 residents left Dubai as it came under heavy attack in March, but the population nonetheless grew to 4.73 million by July, topping pre-war numbers, according to official data.
In Bahrain’s capital Manama, Indian waiter Rabin Sharma said he was out of the country at the onset of the war but raced towards the conflict, rather than away: he had to get back to his job.
– Family dilemma –
Foreigners who have moved to the Gulf face a dilemma: leave their tax-free haven and face lower wages at home, or remain and hope for the best.
Some families have opted to move dependents back home while the breadwinner stays behind to continue earning money.
This was the case for an Egyptian engineer living in Kuwait — who also requested anonymity.
Sitting in a luxury cafe at a Kuwaiti mall, he told AFP his wife and daughter would be returning to Egypt while he stayed put.
“I cannot risk their lives,” he said. “The situation is too unstable.”
Missiles and drones rained on the tiny Gulf nations of Kuwait and Bahrain in regular barrages throughout July as the US-Iran truce unravelled.
Kuwait reported repeated attacks on its only airport and on water desalination and power plants that forced authorities to ask residents to ration energy.
Amro Hussein, another Egyptian, said he fled the country by land with his wife and two young daughters after they awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of a drone crashing into a nearby building.
“It was a shock… especially for the children,” he said.
But four months later, the family, which has lived in Kuwait for 12 years, decided to return together.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” he told AFP, “but honestly, my wife encouraged me — she’s a brave person… She said no, let’s stay put and keep the family together.”
They decided that they would stay even if more attacks targeted Kuwait.
Back in Dubai, Darly Lanzuela, 33, described going back to the Philippines as inconceivable, saying she makes “10 times” more working in a mall in the Gulf.
“To give my children a better future and secure their education, it’s better to stay in Dubai.”
