At least 23 Asian nationals, including four Pakistanis, have been killed or missing in the US-Iran war.
Smoke rises towards an energy facility in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah. Photo: AFP
In what is expected to be a time of celebration, families across Pakistan will mark Eid in mourning, after their loved ones working in the Gulf were killed in the Iran conflict.
At least 23 workers from countries including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have been killed or missing since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran, according to a report. Anadolu pointing.
Muzaffar Ali, a 28-year-old man from Sindh, was among those killed when shrapnel from a missile shell hit his car in Dubai. He leaves behind three young children, the eldest being only 7 years old.
“He left for Dubai four years ago in search of a better life,” said his uncle Abdul Hakim. Anadolu by telephone.
“He was paying off the loans he took out from relatives for the move. The last time we spoke, he told me he had almost paid off everything he owed. Now he can finally settle down.”
Muzaffar was among three Pakistanis confirmed dead in the Middle East conflict. A fourth Pakistani fisherman was killed in Iranian waters after being hit by debris from an intercepted Israeli missile.
“A shrapnel injured his face. He died in hospital,” Hakim said. “I don’t know who will feed his family. He was the breadwinner.”
Among the nearly two dozen people from Asian countries killed or missing since the start of the conflict are six people from India, four from Bangladesh and one person each from China, Nepal and the Philippines.
Three Indonesians and three Thais remain missing in the waters off Oman and in the Strait of Hormuz.
Migrant workers on the front lines
Migrant workers make up almost half of the workforce in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – and make up the majority of the population in several of them. They are also present in large numbers in Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and Israel, according to the Coalition for Labor Justice for Gulf Migrants.
Many work under the restrictive kafala, or sponsorship, system, which ties them to employers and often limits their ability to leave or even hold their own passports. Although Saudi Arabia has introduced reforms under its Vision 2030 program, similar systems remain in place elsewhere.
“This systemic lack of mobility further traps migrant workers in conflict zones, limiting their movement,” says the migrant worker coalition, warning that employers may withhold wages, deny leave or lay off workers without compensation during the crisis, interrupting vital remittances to families in Asia and Africa.
Since the start of the war, several Gulf countries have introduced remote working and closed schools to face Iranian retaliation. Migrant workers, however, are much more likely to remain exposed and continue to work in jobs that require physical presence.
The coalition also says migrant workers are often excluded from emergency evacuation plans and denied access to shelters.
Learn more: Gold prices fall sharply in global and local markets ahead of Eid
Eid without celebration
In Ganz, a small coastal village in Gwadar, the atmosphere is gloomy as the family of 17-year-old Mohammad Tayyab struggles to come to terms with his death.
Tayyab, the youngest of four brothers, had left school after his father’s death to help support the family by smuggling cheaper Iranian gasoline into Pakistan.
On March 7, while returning home by boat with an aide, debris from an intercepted projectile hit their ship in the Arabian Sea.
“I was about to break my fast when I heard that Tayyab’s boat had been hit. The news came like a bomb,” said his maternal uncle Asghar Hussain. Anadolu.
Since the start of the war, Pakistan has closed its border with Iran, depriving thousands of fishermen and informal traders along the Balochistan coast of livelihoods.
“We, especially Tayyab’s mother, are still struggling to get over this shock. There will be no celebrations this Eid, just mourning,” Hussain said.
Miles away, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, Nadir Ali, 70, mourns his son, Murib Zaman, who died when debris from an intercepted missile hit the building where he lived in Abu Dhabi.
Zaman, 48, had worked as a driver in the UAE for almost eight years. A father of five, he was recently discussing Eid preparations with his family.
“He kept asking me about Eid preparations, especially about the clothes and shoes of his daughters and son,” Nadir said. “Don’t worry about the money,” he remembers his son telling him.
“The children were his life. Every time he called, he would first ask about their health, their education and their well-being,” he said, holding back tears.
“I don’t know what Eid would be without him.”
Mehran Rashid, Zaman’s future son-in-law, said he spoke to him just days before his death.
“He reminded me to take the kids shopping before Eid and to the park on Eid,” Rashid said.
Today, he adds, children refuse to party.
“They don’t want new clothes or anything. They just look at pictures of their dad several times a day.”
