Americans stranded in the Middle East say they've had little US government help: 'I felt betrayed and left out to dry'

Cody Greene, a business development manager from Tampa, arrived in Dubai last Friday for a weeklong work trip. After Dubai's Burj Khalifa hotel was struck on Sunday, Greene started trying to get home.

As of Thursday, he's still stuck there.

"I felt betrayed and left out to dry by my own government," Greene told Business Insider.

"The support, or lack thereof, from the US Government, has been utterly disgraceful," he added.

Across the Middle East, Americans have been struggling to reconcile the US government's official advice — "depart now via commercial means due to serious safety risks" — with the reality on the ground.

In its latest guidance, the US government urged Americans to depart from 14 countries and territories in the Middle East. But with key airports shut down, most US embassies closed, and many receiving automated messages on an official government helpline, Americans have found themselves trapped and wondering exactly how to follow that advice.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider for this story.

Closed airspaces, limited flights

The US government's guidance to use "commercial means" to return home has been proving difficult. While many governments have launched or are organizing their own repatriation flights to help citizens get home, there was no such plan from the US government until Tuesday evening ET, when the State Department announced that it was facilitating charter flights from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

Even with some charter flights available, tourists are facing closed airspaces and limited departures from airports.

As of Thursday, airspace in Qatar, Bahrain, Israel, and Kuwait remains closed, while a few flights have been able to take off from the UAE. Oman's airspace remains open.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates said on Wednesday that all their scheduled commercial flights are canceled until at least Sunday. Both airlines have operated some repatriation flights — though none to the Americas.

Embassy support was limited

Seeking support from their nearest US embassy has also been off the table for most Americans in the region.

On Tuesday, the US embassy in Jerusalem issued a statement saying it was unable to help citizens evacuate. The US embassy in Qatar advised those who chose to stay in the country to prepare contingency plans that would "not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation."

Others have shuttered their doors and evacuated staff amid imminent missile and UAV attacks. The US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was hit by two drones on Tuesday, which sparked a fire.

Advice mirrored across many of the US embassy websites in the region includes sheltering in place, keeping cellphones charged and travel documents to hand, and monitoring official information sources. But the response remained contradictory across the region into the middle of the week.

"The US government is ready to help Americans leave the Middle East," the US embassy in Bahrain said in an update on Wednesday.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the update on Wednesday was: "The US government has limited ability to offer emergency services to US citizens in Saudi Arabia due to the safety risks."

'Where is the help?'

In a Tuesday press conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged US citizens abroad to sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP. As options open up, he said, "we have to be able to reach you; we have to be able to know where you're staying so we can get this information to you and coordinate appropriately."

Greene, the business development manager, said Rubio's comments "enraged" him, given the lack of concrete assistance he had received at that point. As of Wednesday, there had been "zero communication" about how to secure a place on a chartered flight, he said.

Greene, the business development manager, said that as of Wednesday, there had been "zero communication" about how to secure a place on a chartered flight.

"I got hold of someone on the helpline earlier today, but she said there were still no plans and told me to shelter in place," he said.

Cody Greene saw a drone attack intercepted in Dubai. Courtesy of Cody Greene

Emilia Vasquez traveled to Dubai last Thursday to celebrate her birthday with her 6-year-old son. On Wednesday, she said she had not been able to reach anyone via the US helpline.

People in the states have called the number on her behalf, and four fellow US citizens staying in her hotel have tried to reach official channels, but all have received no response, she said.

Vasquez, who was scheduled to return to her home in New York on Tuesday, said there was a lot of frustration with the US government: "You guys are offering to get us out of here, but where is the help?"

"If they have the power to invest and spend all this money causing harm, they can send an aeroplane and pick people that are in this situation," said Vasquez.

Business Insider called the State Department's helpline on Tuesday afternoon and got a 45-second pre-recorded message saying: "Please do not rely on the US government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time." When Business Insider called again on Thursday, the number directed us to the US Middle East task force and asked us to hold for the next available representative who could assist with travel.

Soups Ranjan, the cofounder and CEO of the AI risk management platform Sardine, told Business Insider it was disheartening to see that other countries were quicker to organize themselves.

Ranjan said he was in the air on Saturday morning when the air strikes began, and his flight turned back to Dubai.

Ranjan said he spent 8 hours crossing into Oman on Wednesday by private car and was hoping to catch a commercial flight from Muscat to Istanbul on Thursday.

Increased support on Thursday

There are signs that support for Americans is improving.

As of Thursday, some US embassies in the Middle East have updated their guidance and begun providing links for American citizens to request assistance departing the region.

The State Department has shared a link on social media to a "Crisis Intake Form" for those in the region to sign up for departure assistance, and said it had chartered a flight of American citizens back to the US.

"By completing this form, American citizens in those countries will directly receive information about upcoming charter aviation and ground transportation options," Dylan Johnson, the assistant Secretary of State, said in a statement on Thursday.

The State Department's 24/7 Task Force has assisted nearly 10,000 Americans abroad, and since Saturday, nearly 20,000 American citizens have returned to the US from the Middle East, Johnson said.

Greene and Vasquez, both of whom remained stuck in Dubai on Thursday, were upset that help hadn't come sooner.

It felt like the US government "started this conflict with obviously no plan whatsoever for how to get people like me out of here," Greene said.