Berlin’s Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) updated its United Arab Emirates travel and security advice at 10:00 CEST on 23 July, warning that ‘despite the June US-Iran memorandum, military strikes in the region are again increasing’. The guidance stops short of a formal travel warning but urges German nationals to ‘re-examine any plans to transit Gulf airspace’ and to avoid US military facilities on UAE soil. Key additions include references to the possibility of sudden air-space closures and an explicit reminder that photography of military activity is illegal under Emirati law—a point often overlooked by business travellers who post real-time updates on social media. The ministry also highlights the UAE’s zero-tolerance approach to alcohol-related driving offences, noting that vehicles can be confiscated for red-light violations and only released against payment of AED 50,000. For global-mobility teams the advisory matters for two reasons: first, many German-headquartered firms route Asian assignments through Dubai or Abu Dhabi hubs; second, German employee-insurance policies often make the level of official warning a trigger for enhanced duty-of-care obligations. Companies should therefore log the update, re-circulate crisis-response contacts and remind travellers to register on the Auswärtiges Amt ELEFAND system. The advisory remains at the second-lowest German risk level (‘Sicherheitsrisiken’) but could move higher if drone activity continues.
Source: Auswärtiges Amt
