Gulf expats stay despite Middle East war disruption

Many foreign workers and expats in Gulf countries have stayed through six months of Middle East war, balancing safety fears against jobs, salaries and family finances.

AFP reported that the war has killed 41 people in the Gulf and disrupted daily life in several countries. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s service and tourism sectors have faced layoffs and salary cuts, and schools have periodically shifted to remote learning. In Kuwait, many people skipped summer holidays to avoid being stranded abroad by air travel disruption.

Foreign workers from Global South countries make up much of the population in several Gulf states and are central to their economies. Many also send money home to relatives.

A Syrian woman in Dubai told AFP she stayed because she had no other option, saying work in the city still offered security and income unavailable in Syria. In Bahrain, Indian waiter Rabin Sharma said he returned to the country at the start of the war because he needed his job.

Some families have split temporarily. An Egyptian engineer in Kuwait told AFP his wife and daughter would return to Egypt while he stayed to keep earning, saying the situation was too unstable to risk their lives.

Others left and then came back. Amro Hussein, an Egyptian who fled Kuwait by land with his wife and two daughters after hearing a drone crash nearby, said the family later decided to return together.

Official data cited by AFP showed that more than 60,000 residents left Dubai during heavy attacks in March, but the city’s population still grew to 4.73 million by July, above pre-war levels.