A Ukrainian woman complains that the Foreign Ministry isn’t helping tourists get out of the UAE, but instead had them fill out a form to register the dead

A Ukrainian tourist in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) said that she and many other Ukrainians are stranded in the country because of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, and that Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry is not helping them with evacuation or accommodation.

A monologue by the young woman appeared on TikTok on March 4.

According to her, it is currently impossible to fly out of the Emirates. People whose booked hotel stays have already ended have to pay for extra nights so they don’t end up on the street.

“I think we’re stuck here for a long time, because all flights have been canceled. The tickets that are being sold are with connections through airports that also aren’t operating. Airlines are just making money by selling these tickets even though you won’t be able to fly. The prices are insane. The Dubai Department of Tourism promised us that it would keep all tourists and pay for their accommodation until they can leave the Emirates, but hotels don’t really want to deal with government money—they’d rather we just pay and they get cash right away. We don’t know how long we’ll keep paying. Today we already paid for one night until tomorrow. We don’t know how many more days to book, we don’t know when we’ll leave and be able to change our tickets. The airline’s website isn’t working. I can’t change the dates or get a refund. We can’t leave by land, because we’d have to travel through unsafe countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. We’re trapped,” the woman said.

She also criticized the work of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, calling it a useless institution that should be shut down.

“The MFA should be shut down; it makes no sense. The only thing the ministry did was ask us to register and submit an application for statistics in case something happens to us—so that then they can announce the statistics of how many Ukrainians died abroad. We have to save ourselves,” the tourist concluded.

Dubai is a popular destination among celebrities, who not only vacation and work there but also own property. The city has been suffering from aerial attacks since the first day of the war.