Inside the lives of those ‘who are trapped in Dubai’ while explosions ring out… and influencers moan

For thousands of sun-seeking Brits and an army of influencers, the Dubai dream appears to be over.

Selfies on pristine beaches have been replaced by bomb shelters in underground car parks, while tax-dodging expats face prison threats for publishing pictures of the damage.

Iran’s suicide drones have lit up the night sky, replacing the bright lights of glitzy skyscrapers and glitzy five-star hotels and shattering the illusion of an untouchable emirate a world away from the conflicts gripping its war-torn neighbors.

While celebs including Rio and Kate Ferdinand have escaped to luxury holiday homes in Portugal, Luisa Zissman lamented being ‘removed from my home during the refugee period’ before offering followers a free private jet flight to bring her dog from Dubai.

But the war has had a much worse impact on migrant workers in Dubai, who have borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks.

Three of the six civilians killed in the United Arab Emirates were Pakistanis, with one victim from Bangladesh, Palestine and Nepal.

While influencers cry for their dogs, some workers are forced to continue working in areas under attack, facing death as they are denied access to bomb shelters or denied emergency leave by employers.

The UAE’s oppressive Kafala System, which ties migrant workers to their employers, has long constrained them to the will of their bosses.

Celebs including Rio and Kate Ferdinand flee Dubai for luxury holiday homes in Portugal

Branded by critics as a modern form of slavery, employers maintain control over the residence and legal status of their workers.

Human Rights Watch has documented how this practice allows employers to routinely confiscate workers’ passports.

Workers who leave their employers, including to escape mistreatment, face deportation and detention.

This means that many of the poverty-stricken workers, mostly from South Asia and Africa, who make up nearly 90 percent of the UAE’s workforce, cannot leave the country or change jobs even as missiles fly.

To make matters worse, they were driven away from shelters during Iranian attacks.

Statements shared with the Daily Mail reveal that some workers were forced to continue working at the construction site under the missile rain, while others had their passports confiscated to prevent them from leaving.

The workers, who chose to remain anonymous to protect their safety, describe a chilling reality where their lives are seen as cheaper than the people they serve.

A construction worker from Nepal said he was told by his site manager that he had to continue working normally despite missile alerts in the area.

Anyone leaving without permission was told their visa would be canceled and they would face deportation.

‘I have my wife and two children at home,’ he said. ‘I can’t lose this job. I can’t lose my visa. I have no choice.”

The UAE’s oppressive Kafala System, which ties migrant workers to their employers, has long constrained them to the will of their bosses. (Image: Workers queuing to receive aid food)

An Iranian drone crashed into a fuel depot near Dubai Airport on March 16, causing a massive fire.

Smoke comes out of the fuel tank after a drone crashed near Dubai Airport on March 16

A domestic worker from the Philippines who lives with her employer in the Jumeirah area said she was not allowed to leave the property unsupervised or contact her family abroad without someone present for fear she would abandon it.

A Pakistani warehouse supervisor found his request for emergency unpaid leave to return home rejected.

His employer rejected his request, claiming there was no provision for emergency leave in his contract.

‘What can I do?’ he said. ‘If I leave, I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for. ‘I spent 12 years of my life in this business.’

Others were forcibly removed from overcrowded accommodation and told to return home.

A hotel worker from Karachi told the Mail that he was forced to take what little ‘paid leave’ he now had, whether he wanted it or not.

While some workers who remain in the country have had their salaries cut, they are forced to live on subsistence wages with nothing to send to their relatives, which is the main motivation that pushes them to Dubai.

Saad Kassis-Mohamed, President of the Human Rights Association, a charity that advocates for migrant workers’ rights in the Middle East, accused employers of ‘failing to fulfill their basic duty of care towards the workers for whom they are responsible’.

He said: ‘These failures include being denied access to emergency shelter during active conflict warnings, being refused emergency leave and forcing workers to continue working in environments determined to be unsafe by the relevant authorities.

‘The human cost of these decisions is already obvious. Civilians killed since the conflict began include a Pakistani taxi driver, a Nepali security guard and a Bangladeshi water tanker.

Mugshots of people arrested for sharing ‘war images’ in UAE

Videos posted on social media showed a large cloud of smoke rising from the building, which local officials said was hit by a missile, on March 3.

‘The Association notes with great concern that these individuals, like many of their peers, have no practical means of extricating themselves from harm. Under the terms of the Kafala sponsorship system, a worker’s continued legal residence in the country depends on the consent of his employer.

‘The decision to remain at work in hazardous conditions is in most cases not a freely made choice but one imposed by circumstances and contractual constraints.’

As well as the Kafala system, Dubai has also come under scrutiny for its draconian social media laws, which have led to the arrest of more than 100 people who shared images of damage from Iranian missiles.

A British flight attendant and a tourist are just two of nearly 70 Britons jailed in the UAE facing serious charges for “cybercrime” related to photographing, filming or sharing drone or missile attacks.

The 25-year-old air steward, who works as a cabin crew member for a local airline, posted a photo of the drone strike at Dubai Airport and asked colleagues in a private WhatsApp group, ‘Is it safe to walk in the airport?’ He was arrested for asking.

Another of the British detainees is a 60-year-old London holidaymaker who took a photo of the air raid and deleted it at the request of a police officer on the street, but was arrested anyway.

The news is creating a ‘climate of fear’ among expats who remain on edge in Dubai, fearful not only of arrest but also of what the future holds for them as glittering malls fall silent and foreign companies pack up and leave.

Socialite Petra Ecclestone previously cried as she described the explosions, describing how “grateful” she was for “how much Dubai prioritizes security” and “how welcomed and safe it makes us feel.”

The cabin crew member, who is based in Dubai but is originally from Thamesmead in south-east London, has been held in a crowded, smelly prison cell for more than 20 days since his arrest on March 7, the day the airport was first attacked.

Emirati law prohibits anyone from taking or publishing photographs that could “disrupt public safety”.

When an attack occurs in Iran, a text message in both Arabic and English is sent to those nearby: ‘Photographing or sharing security or critical sites or republishing unreliable information may result in legal action and jeopardize national security and stability.’

It was also reported that the police approached people in the area and asked to see their phones. While anyone caught with photos from attack sites is arrested, those who take these photos through applications such as WhatsApp are also tracked and arrested.

David Haigh of Dubai Watch, which represented the eight Britons arrested, said: ‘Dubai is a company, a brilliant global brand that wants to keep its face intact.

‘So when tourists and foreigners take photos of a missile interceptor or drone strike, they become the enemy.

‘They are arrested, they disappear, they are threatened, they are accused, they are forced to report their friends and they face years in prison.’