"I am a trader stuck in Abu Dhabi. Anyone who wants to stay here is delusional"

2 March 2026

3 minute read

I am a trader for a major US bank in London. Last week I flew to Abu Dhabi, partly for business reasons, partly to assess the Emirate as a potential place to live. There are hedge funds here that I know are hiring; I was considering a move.

💥Follow us on WhatsApp for news alerts.💥

For the past few days though, I have been stuck. The airport was closed and there were hundreds of financial services professionals like me who cannot leave. I have been sleeping on the ground floor of the Ritz-Carlton hotel and am desperate to get out. There are others here with me, including people with children.

The situation has been incredibly stressful. We are on the ground floor in case the building is hit, but people have been asking to go into the garages overnight in case of bombing. Yes, missiles are being neutralised but it's incredibly traumatic - the neutralisation process causes a huge boom that makes it difficult to sleep and that upsets the children here. If you have your kids with you, it's a nightmare. We're all packed and ready to leave, but there has been no way of going.

There is no chance in hell that I would move here permanently now. People who say everything is fine are in denial. It is not fine. Iran has got thousands of cheap drones that it can launch in waves. Yes, the UAE has interceptors but they are expensive in comparison. These drones cost $35k to produce; intercepting them costs $4m.

This is not going to be over soon. I find it hard to believe that people want to stay of their own volition. The airport has just reopened but there is a huge backlog. I just want to get back to the UK.

Louise Boutin is a pseudonym

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Signal: sarahbutcher.22 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: comments are moderated intermittently by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You must take sole responsibility for comments you post on this site. We will take reasonable steps to weed out anything that we consider to be offensive or inappropriate.

AUTHORLouise Boutin

Insider Comment

Br
Brundle
29 April 2026
And they say the Palestinians have it tough
Reply
Su
Sultan
25 March 2026
risk it for the biscuit...
Reply
Ro
RonaldNL
19 March 2026
Dubai was always a destination mainly known as a haven for gold smugglers, slave traders and other dodgy sorts. The only thing they really don't want is interference with their own semi-criminal enterprises, and drugs. They're death on any sort of drugs. But for the rest it's always been a dodgy sort of place. The people getting arrested now for posting pictures on social media of drone hits are just an example of the iron fist in the velvet glove. It is filled with Russian whores, international criminals, spies, smugglers, and crypto bros who facilitate this market, and finance professionals who facilitate the same market knowing full well who they serve. All facilitated by an underclass of near slave labour with few options. This war? It couldn't happen to a nicer set of people. Except for the migrant workers who build and maintain the whole place in horrible conditions with few rights. They're the only ones I really feel sorry for.
Reply