The Coalition on Labor Justice for Migrants in the Gulf urges the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to halt all arbitrary, discriminatory, and unlawful detention and deportation of migrant workers. The Coalition also urges the governments of migrant worker countries of origin to protect deported nationals.

The call follows a new research briefing from Coalition member Equidem, which documents the experiences of nine workers deported as part of the UAE’s mass detention and deportation campaign of thousands of migrant workers throughout spring 2026. The UAE appears to have targeted predominantly Pakistani Shia Muslims for deportation on apparent religious and political grounds amidst the ongoing US-Iran war.

The workers described denial of due process, arbitrary detention and deportation, and, in some cases, torture or ill-treatment...

The Coalition calls for urgent action by both destination and origin country governments and employers to protect workers who undergo or are threatened with arbitrary deportation, and to address the structural conditions that facilitate mass deportations.