Speaking candidly to the Daily Mail, he said he was finding himself unable to return home due to flights being repeatedly disrupted.“I’m surprised I didn’t get any help from the UK government. The UAE is helping all Britons who were stranded there when the conflict started, paying for their flights, hotels, meals and taxis.“But as a UAE resident, no one in the UK offered any help to me, which honestly I find strange.“I was getting no help from the UK – as a taxpayer for 17 years I thought I would at least get some kind of support. But British Airways only offered a full refund or to book me on the next flight.”More than 140,000 Britons registered for government updates in the Middle East as the situation escalated, according to reports, with the Foreign Office confirming that around 7,500 people had returned to the UK from the UAE since the beginning of March.McEntee described being in a “fluid state” due to flights being repeatedly rescheduled, and said: “I’ve been spending several days online and on the phone trying to figure out what my options are.”

‘Still safer than London’

Despite missile and drone attacks on parts of the UAE, McEntee said he felt safer returning to Dubai than living in London.The UAE confirmed it was targeted by a ballistic missile and multiple drones as part of a wider Iranian retaliation, with an attack reported on an industrial area in Dubai and a drone missing from the Burj Khalifa.

Black smoke in background added. – A plume of smoke caused by an Iranian attack is visible in the background, An Emirates plane lands at Dubai International Airport after takeoff in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Nevertheless, McEntee told the Daily Mail that he would like to stay in the UAE.“I think most expatriates would prefer to stay in the UAE right now rather than return to the UK.“As 90 per cent of drones have been dealt with, so for me there is a sense of safety in the UAE. It is definitely a place I would rather be in than London right now and not have to deal with petty crime on a daily basis.”During his week-long stay in Britain, he said he saw “persistent petty crime”, including two phone robberies in broad daylight, and he also saw “men in balaclavas attacking you on e-bikes”.He said a female friend had asked him to take the Tube to her home because she felt unsafe, describing it as “no way to live”.

Return to Dubai and continue life

McEntee, who runs Gymnation with other British expats in Dubai, has since returned to the Emirates on what he described as an almost empty flight.Despite the regional conflict, Rory McEntee said daily life in Dubai is largely continuing as normal. “It was business as usual,” said the Dubai-based gym executive, adding that people continued to go to work, go to the gym, meet friends and feel safe.He criticized a section of the UK media for blowing the situation out of proportion. writing on linkedin, McEntee said the coverage “does not match what I am hearing directly from my family, friends and colleagues in Dubai.” He said that, despite some international bullying and reports of influential holidaymakers, he currently feels safer in Dubai than in London.At one point, McEntee set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of another ticket while he tried to secure a return flight to Dubai, raising £660 from supporters. He clarified laterWriting on LinkedIn that the UAE government had covered the cost: “Many thanks to those who donated on the GoFundMe page, but refunds are coming as soon as the UAE government picked up the tab. Thank you for all the messages of support and happy to say I am safe now.”

Rory McEntee LinkedIn Post

“When we had our baby I moved to Dubai with my wife and realized the UK was not the place I wanted to raise a child,” he said. “We also moved for the better quality of life, sunshine, career opportunities – and obviously the tax breaks are a bonus, but not the main reason to move.”

There has been a long-standing concern about crime in London

This is not a new situation for McEntee, who has been vocal about security concerns in the UK.Last year, Gymnation launched a self-defense retreat in Dubai aimed at Londoners amid rising phone thefts in the capital. The six-week program was marketed as free, provided participants could cover their own flights and accommodations, and received approximately 600 sign-ups.Explaining the idea at the time, McEntee said the idea came after four of his London-based friends had their phones stolen, prompting him to “give Londoners an escape” and “provide a new solution to restore Londoners’ confidence”.She said self-defense is meant to “empower and give people more confidence”, as participants talked about increased anxiety and said they no longer felt safe walking alone at night.The campaign gained popularity online and was promoted across boroughs including Southwark and Hackney, tapping into widespread concerns about what organizers described as a worsening “phone theft epidemic”.