Photo: AFP
Publication date: Saturday, August 24, 2024 12:54 PM
With monsoon floods destroying homes and towns and cutting off communications in most places, Bangladeshi expatriates in the UAE are worried and anxious about their families back home.
The disaster left around three million people stranded, killed at least 13 people and sent families into panic in both Bangladesh and the UAE.
The past few days have been sleepless nights for Akram, a 29-year-old Sharjah resident. “I have not been able to contact my family back home for the past three days,” he said, his voice filled with concern. “The last we heard was that there was heavy rain and the water levels were rising. Since then, we have not been able to get through on the phone. We are glued to our phones scrolling through the news, but we don’t even know if they are alive.”
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“The situation in my hometown is dire,” Akram said. “I read on the news that entire neighborhoods are submerged and residents are being forced to flee with only what belongings they can carry.”
Ashraful Mubarak, 34, from Deira, is desperately trying to get in touch with his family in Feni, a town that was hit hard by the floods. “On the evening of August 21, my mother told me that water had entered the house and we had to evacuate to the second floor,” Mubarak said. “But when I tried to contact them again on the evening of August 23, their mobile phones were not working.”
Mubarak made multiple phone calls but got no response, and his anxiety grew. “I called everyone I know in Feni but nobody picked up,” he said. “I finally managed to get in touch with a grocery store near my house. They told me that their family is safe but that whole neighbourhoods are underwater and people are fleeing with nowhere to go. They also said they couldn’t get in touch with any of the town’s phones as most of them had been washed away.”
“I’m glued to TikTok and Instagram for the latest updates.”
For many, social media has become a lifeline in the absence of news coverage. Sattar Karim, a 42-year-old restaurateur in Ajman, keeps checking TikTok and Instagram for signs of activity in his hometown of Cumilla.
“There is still some mobile phone network in my town, but most of the phones were destroyed by the floods,” Karim said. “The few people who still have working phones have been posting videos on TikTok and Instagram to keep us abroad updated. Even news channels are not providing updates. I have no idea how my family is doing. I just hope they are safe and well.”
“No assistance”
Jassim Kabir, a facilities manager at a real estate company in Dubai, said his family, like many others, were forced to seek refuge with relatives after their home was flooded. “We have received no aid,” Kabir said. “We have no food and no drinkable water. My family’s house was destroyed and we are now staying with my aunt. More than 20 people are crammed into our two-bedroom house. We don’t know what they will do when the water recedes. There is nothing left,” he added.
Devastating floods in Bangladesh have left millions stranded and their homes and lives upended. For Bangladeshi migrants in the United Arab Emirates, the devastating natural disaster has become a nightmare as they are unable to contact their loved ones.
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