Israel-Iran conflict: Keralite expatriates in Gulf face heightened anxiety and fear amid escalating tensions in West Asia

Keralite expatriates in the Gulf face heightened anxiety and fear amid escalating tensions and attacks in West Asia.

Expatriate Keralites working in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, and their families back in Kerala have been living in anxiety and fear as tensions escalated in West Asia.

Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone strikes on US military bases and strategic assets across the Arabian Gulf, following the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iranian territory, have intensified fears of a wider regional conflict.

With airspace closures and nationwide advisories urging residents to remain indoors, lakhs of expatriates find themselves confined to their homes. The repeated sound of loud explosions at frequent intervals has deepened their anxiety and sense of uncertainty.

“We could not sleep a wink on Saturday night as the blasts from missile interceptions tore through the sky again and again. My daughter and my sister’s children stayed awake, huddled together, gripped by fear,” said Zaneesha Rensin, who lives in Qatar with her family.

Ms. Rensin, a middle-level manager from Thalassery in Kannur, said that although the night was terrifying, the fear is now slowly beginning to subside.

Abdurahman Meleveettil, a senior accountant based in Doha and hailing from Chaliyam, Kozhikode, said residents were gripped by fear as the sounds of blasts were heard repeatedly. “Everyone is staying indoors in Doha. Work has shifted to a work-from-home mode,” he said.