Millions of migrant workers in Gulf at risk as war rages on in the Middle East

A rocket moves in the sky over Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday, March 2, 2026, in this screen grab taken from a social media video. -- Photo: VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS

MANILA/MIDDLE EAST (Bloomberg): 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. 

South-East 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 migrant workforce the International Labour Organization estimates at over 24 million.