Millions of migrant workers in Gulf at risk as Iran retaliates

2026-03-02 - 06:14

The Gulf nations rely largely on migrant labour from Southeast Asia and South Asia, which employs over 24 million people. (EPA Images pic) DOHA: Millions of migrant workers, who support some of the Middle East’s most crucial sectors, are in the line of fire as Iran retaliates against the US-Israeli strikes that killed the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader. Southeast and South Asian nations supply a large share of the labour in the Gulf, including medical practitioners, construction workers and household help that make up a workforce the International Labour Organization estimates at over 24 million. The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand said on Monday they’re monitoring the location of their citizens and urged them to shelter in place. Evacuation and repatriation plans are also being prepared should the attacks worsen, they said in separate statements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, which has about 9 million workers in the Gulf, said in an X post that he spoke to leader of United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed about “taking care” of the Indian community. His cabinet also directed all departments to “take necessary and feasible measures to assist Indian nationals affected by the development.” A Filipino caregiver Mary Anne Velasquez de Vera was killed when she was struck by shrapnel while helping her ward reach a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a briefing late Sunday. Another Filipino migrant worker was injured in Kuwait. The UAE reported three people killed from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Migrant workers are crucial to the Middle East economy, accounting for over 40% of the region’s labour force, the highest proportion in the world, according to the ILO. Many of them are in low-income work and often lack adequate protection. Previous conflicts in the Middle East have seen some migrant workers abandoned by employers, often without their wages or travel documents. Philippine Migrant Workers secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said in a briefing Monday that the government is ready to order a mandatory repatriation of the nation’s 2.4 million workers in the Middle East if the situation worsens. It’s a decision that will have to be considered carefully as such a large-scale relocation could have a “devastating” impact for both the Philippines and the host country, interior and local government secretary Jonvic Remulla said in a text message. “It’s not as simple as it sounds. The Filipinos run maybe 50% of the health and service capacity of the Emirates,” Remulla said. “We will have to prepare for all contingencies.” Kris Paglicawan, a 34-year-old retail worker in Qatar, said this is the first time she’s seen attacks of this scale in her 11 years in the Gulf state. She’s staying indoors after missile debris landed just a few kilometers away from her residence in the city center during the weekend. The cosmetics shop where she works is also shut for now. “It’s been the third day that we are not getting any sleep. You can clearly hear the booming sound of missiles getting intercepted,” she said in a phone interview.