With the crisis in the Middle East ongoing and the war continuing for its 12th day, repatriation flights continue, bringing Greeks who were stranded there back to anxiously waiting family members. Particularly emotional scenes are recorded daily at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport. Images of families waiting for their loved ones even an hour before the announced arrival time, holding placards with heartfelt messages.
Eleftherios Venizelos Airport: Family reunion after UAE ordeal
Such a scene unfolded recently with Greeks returning from the United Arab Emirates. As a relative waiting for them explained, it was unknown when they would manage to return, causing the family to live through daily moments of anguish. As they characteristically noted: “They spent many very difficult days there. Due to the war zone, no flights were operating and communication between us wasn’t always optimal. The last three days we got tired of hoping when they would come”.
“You hear explosions above your head”
A short while later, the aircraft landed and brought to Eleftherios Venizelos the person they had been patiently waiting for. Upon arriving at the arrivals area, having left behind a journey that, as he says, resembled a real Odyssey, he said: “It’s terribly unsettling to hear explosions above your head. It creates enormous insecurity knowing you can’t leave the country. To get out, we went overland to Saudi Arabia. By car to Riyadh, from Riyadh by plane to Jeddah (the second most important city in Saudi Arabia) and from Jeddah to Cairo and from there to Athens. This took about two and a half days. Just to go from Dubai to Riyadh alone took ten hours”.
However, he clarifies that they experienced a relatively painless ordeal, as they faced organized conditions: “We didn’t go hungry. There was food, there was everything. There was no anxiety, no panic. Especially in Dubai”. In contrast, other people struggled much more due to different circumstances. As he explains: “What I’m telling you isn’t objective and absolute. Because the people who were there with us and had families and children went through much more difficulty than we did being on our own”.
Continuing his description, he mentions that the “outrageous” thing was that he, along with another person, had gone for a one-day business trip to the Emirates “and we ended up returning eight days later having gone through this entire ordeal. The important thing is that we’re back and everything’s fine”, the passenger stated, who immediately afterward was “engulfed” in the embraces of his loved ones.
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