But dozens of people do not know what will happen next and many contacted by the Guernsey Press were reluctant to speak yesterday, claiming that they were feeling silenced by the authorities.
Residents and visitors to United Arab Emirates have been ordered to shelter after the country was attacked by missiles and drones over the past few days.
The attacks came after the United States launched strikes against Iran, to which Iran retaliated, launching missiles and drones at Israeli population centres and Arab states which host US forces, including places such as UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
One islander who now lives in Dubai said yesterday that it was difficult to talk about the situation there, as the government had been sharing notices over the past few days reminding of the rules about posting details of what is happening there on social media.
Laws about rumours and spreading misinformation, particularly during sensitive times, can result in a minimum of one-year prison sentence and fines starting from AED 100,000, which is more than £20,000.
Another Guernsey resident currently in the UAE had said that some apps and phone usage had been restricted.
Dubai International Airport is a global hub for flight connections around the world, but has been closed since Sunday due to the military escalation. Some 200,000 people pass through the airport every day. More than 3,400 flights have been cancelled, and Dubai and Doha airports are closed.
Guernsey Press columnist Peter Roffey has been in Sri Lanka for several weeks, but his ticket home, a Colombo to Guernsey through ticket with Emirates, via Dubai, is currently void.
‘Sadly that mega transport hub is current experiencing incoming missiles so, not unreasonably, they cancelled my flight. At the moment I have no idea how I’ll get home, but there are worse places to be marooned,’ he said yesterday.
‘I may have to revert to flying north to Delhi, or even east to Bangkok, and trying to pick up flights home from there, not to mention having to buy a new Aurigny ticket – my original one was part of my Emirates booking.
'It’s going to cost me big time, particularly with so many people in the same boat, and my travel insurers have pointed out the little clause in my cover saying the policy is void in respect to acts of war or civil unrest.’
Another islander was ultimately grateful to have a short family holiday, due to start today, cancelled over the weekend.
‘Better to know about it from here than to end up caught up in it over there,’ he said. ‘We’re now looking at other destinations – probably a little closer to home.’
As of 2pm yesterday, a small number of flights were being permitted to operate.
The FCDO continues to advise against all but essential travel to UAE.
Due to reported missile attacks, British nationals in UAE should immediately shelter in place, remain indoors in a secure location, avoid all travel and follow instructions from local authorities.
British nationals can also register their presence in affected countries with the FCDO.
