"United Arab Emirates: Protect Migrant Workers from Religious Profiling, Arbitrary Detention, and Deportation", 17 June 2026

The mass detention and deportation of thousands of migrant workers, predominantly from religious minority communities, by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May 2026 marks a dangerous escalation in the treatment of migrant workers amid the recent regional conflict in the  Gulf. According to Shia Muslim Pakistani nationals interviewed by Equidem, UAE government authorities conducted security operations targeting migrant workers on the basis of religion or perceived political affiliation. These workers reported being detained and deported without individualised evidence of wrongdoing, meaningful explanation, or access to due process....

All nine Shia Muslim Pakistani nationals...reported attending Imam Bargah, a Shia mosque located in Bur Dubai. They described that upon entering the mosque, security personnel scanned their Emirates ID cards. Police officers subsequently confirmed to  the workers, at the point of arrest, that they had been identified and tracked through these mosque ID scans. Some workers were arrested at their workplaces, while others were instructed by their employers to report to a police station...

...others deported on the same flights had similarly been tracked through Emirates ID scans at the Imam Bargah. ...Such practices...constitute violations of the rights to  privacy, equality, freedom of religion, due process, and protection from discrimination...