Iran strikes end Dubai dreams for Pakistani workers

Abdul Malick sat among mourning relatives in his village, receiving condolences from neighbours after his nephew, Muzaffar Ali, was killed in Dubai last week.

Ali, a 27-year-old labourer, was one of two Pakistanis killed in retaliatory Iranian strikes against Gulf countries since the start of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic two weeks ago. Debris fell on his vehicle when a projectile was intercepted.

"It is a great tragedy for a family whose sole breadwinner was lost," said Malick, flanked by Ali's three young children.

"We have nothing to do with this war. It is unfortunate that the poor are being used as fuel for a conflict they have no part in," he told AFP.

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Ali moved to Dubai from Sindh's Jamshoro district four years ago.

Relatives offer prayers on the grave of Pakistani national Muzaffar Ali, who was killed in Dubai amid the ongoing Middle East war, after his funeral in Jamshoro in Sindh province on March 12, 2026. PHOTO: AFP

Another Pakistani victim, Murib Zaman, a 48-year-old father of five from Bannu, had been working as a driver in the UAE for the last 25 years.

A third was killed in a drone attack while fishing inside Iranian waters, officials said.

Pakistan, which has condemned Tehran's retaliatory strikes, shares a border with Iran in the southwest and is increasingly feeling the direct effects of the Middle East war.

Rising oil prices have forced fuel prices to shoot up at the pump, while the attacks have seen some 4,000 people, including students, return from Iran.

Gulf remittances are important for South Asian countries and in Pakistan equate to about 3-5% of GDP, according to a note from analysts Capital Economics.

More than 5.5 million Pakistanis, many of them unskilled labourers, work in the region, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with the money they send home vital to support their families.

Mourners gather to offer condolences after the death of Pakistani national Muzaffar Ali after his funeral. PHOTO: AFP

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Remittances help households meet daily expenses but also fund education, healthcare and small businesses, driving domestic consumption and economic activity.

Earlier this week, the State Bank of Pakistan said the country received $3.3 billion in foreign remittances in February 2026, up by 5.2% year-on-year.

Capital Economics warned that a prolonged conflict could hit Gulf economies, with a knock-on effect on remittances to South Asia.

For now, most Pakistani workers appear to be staying put in the Gulf. The Foreign Office said numbers coming back were "too few to call a major outflow".

Abdul Malick, a transporter and uncle of Pakistani national Muzaffar Ali, displays a picture of Ali on his cell phone. PHOTO: AFP

Zaman's cousin, Farmanullah, who uses only one name, told AFP that his dream was for Bannu to develop similar to Dubai and for peace back home.

"Sadly, that wish remained unfulfilled," he added.

In Sindh, Malick said the family was "disappointed" not to have received any financial support from either the UAE or Pakistani government so far.

"It is ironic that when he left Pakistan, we were happy he was going to one of the safest countries in the world, only to later receive his dead body," he told AFP.

"We demand that this war be brought to an end so that innocent labourers like Ali are not used as fuel for it," he added.

"We also demand that the UAE government provide necessary protection and security for civilian labourers."