The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said in a post late last night that families of Australian officials have been told to leave the United Arab Emirates as war in the Middle East spreads.
“The Australian Government has directed the departure of dependants of Australian officials posted to the UAE, due to the deteriorating security situation,” she wrote in a post on X on Sunday night:
double quotation markOur travel advice has been updated to reflect that direction. We continue to advise Australians not to travel to the UAE.
She said that more than 1,700 Australians have so far returned on direct flights from the UAE and that the government was “contacting registered Australians directly when we know seats are available”.
double quotation markIf you can secure a seat, please consider taking it.
