Singaporeans in the Middle East scramble to find a way home

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SINGAPORE – Business development executive Ivan Lim decided to take a night flight home from Dubai on Feb 28 so he could catch up with some former colleagues there. “This may be a decision I might live to regret,” he rued.

The 30-year-old and his father Jack were on a layover on Feb 27 after attending the Enforce Tac security and defence conference in Nuremberg, Germany, and had the option of a 9am flight, which his father took.

“Instead, I decided to take the later flight on Emirates at 9pm,” Mr Lim, who had worked in Dubai for two years, told The Straits Times.

“I was with friends at a cafe when we heard loud booms... between five and six explosions. The people around us were pointing to the plumes of smoke in the sky. Since Dubai is a relatively safe environment, I did not feel scared.

“It was only when the alarms went off on our mobile phones that I began to realise it was serious,” he said.

The severity of the situation hit home after buildings across the Middle East like the Fairmont The Palm, a luxury hotel in Dubai, were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones in retaliation for a “massive” and ongoing attack by the US and Israel.

Major airports in the Middle East, including Dubai’s, were shut on Feb 28 after Iran’s strikes.

Mr Lim quickly made his way to the airport to retrieve his baggage that had been checked in earlier.

“(The staff of) Emirates were overwhelmed because the airport terminal was really crowded... Nobody really had any information for me about my baggage or alternative arrangements,” he said.

He left soon after assessing the scene and concluding that nothing could be done for him. It proved to be a good move, as Dubai International (DXB), which handles more than 1,000 flights a day, was damaged during an overnight Iranian attack that left four staff injured.

“The debris that hit the airport was at the same terminal where I was,” Mr Lim said.

Dubai Airports has suspended all flight operations at both DXB and Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International.

Mr Lim checked into the Paramount Hotel in Business Bay, which is about 17km from the airport, “with only the clothes on my back”.

“I had to wash and dry them on my own in the room and ‘live’ in the bathrobe when I did not go out. The malls were quite far away, so I could not buy more clothes,” he told ST with a wry laugh on March 3 from his hotel room.

The United Arab Emirates said it will pay for the hotels and meals of more than 20,000 passengers stuck in the country due to airspace closures.

A circular issued by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) to hotels said: “In the light of the current circumstances and given that some guests have reached their check-out date but are unable to travel for reasons beyond their control, you are kindly requested to extend their stay until they are able to depart.”

Mr Lim said his national service stint had taught him to put together an emergency bag, comprising essentials like water, food and documents, in case he needed to stay put in Dubai for a longer period.

“I also call my parents and fiancee every day to keep them updated on the situation here. It is for my own and their own peace of mind,” he said.

In Saudi Arabia, the situation in the key cities of Riyadh and Jeddah has remained calm, with daily life and business operations continuing as per normal.

“There is understandably heightened awareness given the broader regional context,” said Mr Nadhir Hassan, 37, a Singaporean who has been working in a bank in Riyadh for five years.

Mr Nadhir said he had planned to return to Singapore for the upcoming Hari Raya holidays but is now affected by the region’s flight disruptions.

He said Singaporeans in Bahrain received an evacuation notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on the night of March 2, informing them that it is facilitating possible evacuation on buses from Bahrain to Riyadh, where they could fly out on available flights home.

MFA issued another notice on March 3 saying it would be exploring “the possibility of assisted departure of Singaporeans from Saudi Arabia” in case of further escalation of hostilities.

“For now, I remain in Riyadh, where it is safe,” Mr Nadhir said.

Former ST journalist Nur Dianah Suhaimi, 44, and her family live in Jeddah, a major port city in western Saudi Arabia.

“It is business as usual here as the conflict was taking place mainly in the eastern parts,” she said.

Ms Dianah had been looking forward to her elder daughter, 16, who is studying in Singapore, joining the family in Jeddah for the Hari Raya holidays.

“With the present situation, I doubt that she will be able to. It will also be hard for us, my husband, younger daughter and myself, to return to spend the holidays with her and my parents,” she said.

Two Singaporean friends, Ms Francesca Harriman, 51, and Ms A. Yagnya, 35, were in Ramallah, in the central West Bank, when it was struck by Iran on Feb 28.

Ms Harriman, a yoga instructor and professional dancer, was there under Love Aid Singapore, a privately backed humanitarian organisation founded by activist Gilbert Goh, while Ms Yagnya, a playwright, was there on a cultural exchange.

“We felt vibrations and the buildings shaking,” Ms Harriman told ST on March 3 over the phone from Amman in Jordan.

“We also heard the roar of fighter jets and explosions above us all day. That was rather blood-chilling,” Ms Yagnya added.

The next day, the women tried to leave Ramallah at 6.30am after arranging with a Palestinian driver to take them to the checkpoint.

They encountered a long line of stationary cars and trucks. Unfortunately, the gates out of the city were closed to those without special permits and many, including the women’s vehicle, had to reverse out of the queue.

“We did not know how or when we would be able to get out until Yagnya found a WhatsApp number to the MFA office in Tel Aviv and sent a text. I must thank the staff at MFA, who were very efficient and managed to get a Palestinian driver with Israeli citizenship to take us across the Allenby Bridge,” Ms Harriman said.

The bridge is the only crossing over the Jordan River linking the West Bank and Jordan.

“We managed to breeze through many places because of the Singapore passport, which we are grateful to have. Our hearts are still with the many who could not get out of the occupied territories,” Ms Yagnya said.

She has secured a $3,000 ticket on Royal Jordanian to Mumbai, India, but Ms Harriman is still waiting for news of hers.

“We feel lucky to have got safely to Jordan and we are incredibly grateful to the people in Palestine and Jordan and those at MFA who were kind to us. After this, I do not think I can enjoy the fly-past during National Day ever again,” Ms Yagnya said.