Dubai is everything. Expats leave the metropolis in panic — Daily Mail

Dubai has ceased to be attractive for expats. At a time when Iranian missiles are falling on the UAE, emigrants leave the city and declare that they will never return to it, because they are afraid for their lives and for their business. This is reported by The Daily Mail.

As the newspaper notes, Dubai, once a tax haven that attracted influencers and thousands of Britons who came in search of warmth and security, has lost its carefully constructed image. The locals are convinced that he is finished.

The Emirate, home to about 240,000 British expats, is under constant attack by missiles and drones from Iran, striking US allies in the Middle East.

"Dubai has become a target for two-thirds of Iranian missiles. On Wednesday morning, three powerful explosions thundered in the city, as a result of which the international airport was damaged. Four people were injured as a result of the collision of two drones with the terminal, and a number of major airlines canceled all flights to the region for several weeks," the newspaper writes.

It is noted that even the famous Fairmont hotel on Palm Jumeirah was under attack. Employees of Western banks, including Standard Chartered and Citi, had to urgently leave their offices due to threats from Iran, whose authorities warned that these banks would be the next targets for attacks.

"As a result of the conflict, four people have already died. In a few weeks since it began, tens of thousands of locals and tourists have left the country. Those who decide to stay may face responsibility for publishing videos showing missiles flying overhead. Despite regular notifications on phones warning about the need to stay away from windows and seek shelter, some people still take risks," the publication says.

The newspaper emphasizes that Dubai does not have significant oil reserves and depends on expats, who make up 90% of the city's population.

Local authorities are making desperate attempts to convince people that the "loud explosions" in the sky are "security sounds" coming from the UAE air defense systems. However, this sounds unconvincing.

"The brilliance of Dubai has definitely faded," said John Trudinger, a Briton who has lived in Dubai for 16 years, in an interview with The Guardian.

The headmaster of a school in the UAE said he had hired more than 100 teachers from the UK. According to him, many of them have received serious psychological trauma and are experiencing difficulties due to the consequences of military operations. This led to the fact that they left the country and are unlikely to return.

Taxi driver Zain Anwar said that his car was destroyed by a missile strike. And his relatives persistently ask him to return to his homeland in Pakistan.

"I don't want to be in Dubai anymore, there is no job there, we don't earn anything after the war started, and I don't think tourism will return. Many taxi drivers, like me, are thinking about leaving for another country. Everyone knows that Dubai is finished," the newspaper quoted the Pakistani as saying.