When blasts rolled across Dubai as air defences intercepted Iranian missiles overhead, Marion Kuria froze as a tremor ran through her building. Then, like countless African migrants in the Gulf, she went back to work, driven by a need for income and with few alternatives to turn to.

The 36-year-old Kenyan, who has spent seven years in the city's retail sector, told AFP she felt the shock "in her spine".

"The anxiety was extremely high," she said.

She is one of thousands of Africans across the Middle East hunkering down as the Gulf fends off Iran's retaliatory drone and missile attacks since US-Israeli strikes sparked war last Saturday…

…for many African workers like Kuria, who has little chance of finding work at home, leaving is hardly an option.

Arnold Keumoe Tchimmoe, a 34-year-old Cameroonian restaurant supervisor has spent 11 years in Dubai.

The first blast caught him just as he arrived at work, a bang so sharp he thought someone had hit his car, before he stepped out and saw debris falling from the sky…

While job opportunities are good for some, leaving for others may be more theoretical than real under the long-criticised sponsorship system common in the Gulf…