At least three expat workers were killed and dozens injured in Dubai after debris from intercepted Iranian airstrikes fell on the city. The attacks, which also caused an explosion at the Fairmont hotel, have rattled some of the 250,000 British nationals living in the UAE, but many insist it is business as usual.
On Monday, the UAE’s president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Dubai’s crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum visited a Dubai mall in a public show of confidence. One observer compared the gesture to French kings eating in public.
British expats have been urged to avoid sharing unverified content, with the UAE warning that doing so is an imprisonable offence. One financial services worker, who arrived only months ago, said he was told to delete a BBC video. The internet briefly went down, and schools including Repton Dubai were closed.
Back in the UK, some expressed schadenfreude. A Daily Mail headline featuring socialite Petra Ecclestone read: ‘I’ve never been hit by an Iranian missile on my way to Asda.’ Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey suggested that ‘tax exiles’ in the UAE should pay UK taxes to support the armed forces.
But Justin Harper, editor of CEO Middle East, said the situation was under control. ‘I don’t want to sound blasé, but it’s business as usual for me,’ he said, adding that while his children were home-schooled for a few days, normal life was returning. ‘There’s a lot of envy about the Dubai lifestyle and people are so quick to knock it down,’ he said.
