Meant to be moving to Dubai in 4 weeks

[Medesres]

We've been planning a move to Dubai for a while now. Dh's work has an office out there and it seemed like great opportunity to live abroad and experience sth different. I've got a couple of friends out there already too who love the lifestyle.

Watching the news for the past 24 hours and I'm really starting to question things. I had no idea how close to Iran it was and who knows what might happen next. Part of me is hoping it will all be resolved soon but hard to believe.

My friend who already lives there has spent the night sleeping in one room with her dh and kids scared of all the missile noises.

Er no not everyone wants to move there at all.

I’ve been offered several job opps working in the Middle East and I turned them all down.

The only 3 people I know who lived and worked there were 2 single guys and a married with kids woman. They all did it for the money.

The lifestyle appealed to us and friends there kept telling us it's great and better than wet, grey UK.

You seriously never thought to check it out in a map?

😅

Well there are 2 snooker players living there Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Wonder what they’ll do now?

The problem is Dubai and parts of the middle east have been really glamorised now so everyone wants to move there.

It’s really NOT the case that “everyone wants to move there”.

Did you not wonder why so many people really dislike it? Why there is a backlash against holidays there? It’s precisely because it is “glamorised” i.e. made out to be something it is not.

You can travel overland from Saudi Arabia if the airport still isn't open by then.

I think you didn’t do that much research into it. Apart from what you wanted to hear.

Saudi should be safe then. They won’t bomb there will they?

The only 2 aspects of your post that are unreasonable are (i) the fact that you are only starting to question things (rather than ruling it out entirely) and (ii) the fact you did not realise how close to Iran it was. I totally understand that geography is not everyone’s strength, but surely if you are considering relocating to a different country you would educate yourself about where in the world it is?

I am not saying this to be unkind. But I do think it’s so important that people (and I am really focussing on women here) are not passive observers in their own lives. Moving abroad is a big thing. Even more so if you have children who are dependent upon you for their safety and security. It’s so vital to take ownership of your decisions and that can only happen through being fully informed.

In answer to your primary question - in my view the only reasonable thing to do is to cancel the move.

I'd looked up DH new office on Google maps and places we were thinking of living. Looked at nearby things on Google and landmarks, just hadn't zoomed out that far to see everything else. I knew Iran was nearby but I just wasnt thinking about that as no idea there would be war. People will laugh but it just wasn't my first thought, I was more concerned about neighbourhoods/ supermarkets etc

Foreign nationals can only fly in and out, they not cross borders in any other way .

Oh OP good grief. How can you not have known where it was. Didn’t you even visit before you agreed to move? Many airlines fly right over Iran. Still you are where you are. DH needs to speak to bosses immediately with a view to postponing the move until the situation stabilises out there. You’d be mad to go now. I have a number of friends living in the ME and they are all pretty freaked out by the situation.

YABU for not knowing how close it is to Iran. Did you think it was Little Britain in the desert?

This has got to be a wind up surely!
You researched supermarkets not a map....

I really hope this makes people realise these aren't places people who are used to western democracy should live or in any way support. We've been offered to live there multiple times abc you couldn't pay me to live there. I think paying taxes in grey Britain looks good to some people there now.

I know! Did you not do any research before agreeing to this?

If you believed everything you saw/read in the media you wouldn't go anywhere....yep including your local High Street.
The situation in the region has been unstable for years and always will be, especially if 'the West keep involving themselves. Missiles over the UAze however are few and far between ... usually Bahrain and Qatar are seen more as targets due to US bases.
Talking to friends who live in the UAE earlier nobody was particularly worried and were pretty much carrying on as they would during any normal Ramadan.
There's a supposed ex security guy on Instagram who speaks a lot of sense and lives in Dubai...Joule Sullivan. Haven't checked his credentials but worth listening to.
I've lived in the region for many years snd spart from the frustration of air space being closed have been lucky enough not to have any major worries.

It amazes me how many British people just think Dubai is Real Housewives of England without realising the political and geographical realities of it.

I would be worried about going too. But I am not someone who has ever even wanted to visit Dubai, so I can't tell you if the pay off may be worth the risk for you.

I don't think I'd cancel necessarily. But I don't see it being a bed of roses over there. It definitely seems to be a love it or hate it place at the best of times and I know a few people who really didn't like living there for a number of reasons, none of which I think are going to improve with everything that is going on.

The main issue for me atm would be getting stuck there and unable to leave if I wanted to or needed to.

Quite!

I can understand you being nervous now. What I find ridiculous is that you haven’t really looked into where you are moving and the political climate. I’m guessing you know nothing about the rules and laws there you will have to follow too. Not a place I’d be moving to with no research.

Everyone doesn't actually mean everyone she knows. Everyone she knows means just that. If she thinks that everyone wants to go she is misinformed and might like to know that

I agree with others that it's crazy that you were planning to emigrate without researching the geography and politics of the area. Unless you are very new to Mumsnet, you must be aware that while some people love it for the "glamourous lifestyle" (for foreign tourists and expats), there are many others who wouldn't touch it with a bargepole (either holidaying there or working there) because of its human rights abuses.

But, we are where we are. It will be some time before the situation in the area stabilises. Your DH needs to phone his employer asap to ask what happens if you postpone/cancel the move and want to stay in this country.