A family from Gaza who spent nearly four months trapped in transit have returned to the UAE after the country's leadership responded to a cry-for-help video.
For Eid Al Abasi, 46, that time from January 4 to May 1 was defined by helplessness. “They were the worst months of my life,” he told The National.
From his home in Al Ain, he watched as his wife and four children, aged eight, seven, five and one, along with his mother and mother-in-law, slept on airport chairs and floors in Jordan, unable to enter or leave.
Then his resourceful daughter Lulu, seven, posted a video on social media in which she asked President Sheikh Mohamed to help them return to the Emirates.
Within less than an hour, Mr Al Abasi received a call from a government official in which he was told "no one should be stranded in an airport" and their journey back to the UAE began.
Why did the family separate?
Mr Al Abasi lost his job as the head of a health clinic in Al Ain in 2023 and, over time, could no longer pay for his family's visas as overstay fines accumulated.
“I couldn’t pay for their visas and the fines began accumulating,” he said. “We couldn’t send them back to Gaza because of the war, and we couldn’t stay in the UAE because there was a ban on them because I hadn’t paid the overstay fines.”
On January 4, he made the difficult decision to send his family to Jordan where they had relatives while he stayed to work in a new job seeking to pay off the fines.
“We couldn’t send them back to Gaza because of the war and we couldn’t all stay in the UAE,” he said.
When they arrived, officials refused to let them in because their documents were incomplete. They were sent to Egypt, but Egypt refused to let them in because they did not have Palestinian identification cards, as they had never lived in Gaza, and they were sent back again.
The family remained at the airport.
Living in limbo
For two weeks, they slept on chairs and floors. Airport staff provided them with food and blankets, but their health began to deteriorate.
“It was the sandwich,” seven-year-old Lulu said. “We kept the food to eat the next day and as soon as I ate the sandwich, I felt sick.”
With several members of the family suffering food poisoning, airport staff took them to the airport hotel, where they remained for two months.
“We were happier at the hotel,” eight-year-old Suliman said. “We slept on beds and could shower.”
Some of the children developed skin rashes from their time sleeping on airport floors. One-year-old Noor was still in nappies.
However, two months later, the airline carrier said it could no longer bear the cost of their stay at the airport hotel.
“The hotel was wonderful,” Mr Al Abasi said. “I remember the manager saying he would pay for my family’s stay because it wasn’t right for young children to be sleeping on airport benches and chairs.”
A cry for help
Faced with returning to the airport, the family recorded a video.
“Please Sheikh Mohamed,” Lulu said through tears. “We want to go back home to the UAE. We have no other home. Please help us. We’ve been stuck in the airport for four months.”
Within less than an hour, Mr Al Abasi received a call. An Emirati official, Mr Al Abasi said, told him his children were not to stay at the airport any longer and that the UAE President had ordered their immediate return.
Mr Al Abasi broke down crying. “It was like I was in the dark and brought into the light,” he said. “I had no doubt that I would get a response. This isn’t unusual for Sheikh Mohamed. I just didn’t expect it to be this fast.”
In less than 12 hours, on May 1, the family was back in the UAE.
“They asked me to come earlier,” Mr Al Abasi said. “When I arrived, they asked me to wait right in front of the elevator doors at arrivals.”
He was met by officials from immigration and the airport.
“They wanted me to be the first thing the children saw when they landed in Dubai,” he said. “It was a wonderful surprise. I had never had such a warm welcome.”
He said Sheikh Mohamed had also helped his family in the past. “He treated my father when he was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2007,” he said. His father, also a UAE resident, passed away in 2012.
“We never forgot the kindness,” he said. “And today Sheikh Mohamed has brought his grandchildren back home. This is home.”
