As geopolitical tensions involving Israel, the United States, and Iran continue to dominate global headlines, a new policy brief from Migration Web Africa is drawing attention to a largely overlooked group: migrant workers living across the Middle East.
Millions of migrants from Africa and Asia work in the region’s construction sites, households, hospitals, and service industries. Their labour supports key sectors of several Middle Eastern economies, while their earnings sustain families thousands of kilometres away through remittances.
Yet when political tensions escalate, the systems that govern migrant labour may reveal vulnerabilities that are rarely discussed in public debates. The new policy brief suggests that many migrant workers could face heightened risks if instability deepens in the region.
Among the concerns highlighted are limited access to protection mechanisms, disruptions to essential services, and the possibility that some migrants could find themselves trapped between employer obligations, immigration rules, and rapidly changing security conditions.
Economic disruptions could also reshape labour markets in unpredictable ways. Businesses affected by instability may suspend operations, leaving migrant workers without wages or valid work permits. In such situations, some migrants may be pushed toward informal employment arrangements simply to survive.
According to Migration Web Africa, these risks are not inevitable. Governments, employers, and international institutions may be able to reduce vulnerability by integrating migrant workers into crisis preparedness frameworks, strengthening evacuation coordination, and expanding access to multilingual information during emergencies.
The organisation argues that migrant populations are often absent from early crisis planning discussions, despite their significant presence in the region’s labour markets.
What happens to migrant workers when geopolitical tensions escalate?
The full policy brief explores this question in greater depth, examining how labour migration systems intersect with conflict dynamics and outlining policy considerations that could help reduce risks for migrant communities.
