Deportation, Displacement, and Reintegration

Pakistani Migrant Workers Returning from the UAE Amid Geopolitical Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID24239188
AuthorsZubair Hussain (0000-0002-3562-8848), Muhammad Munib Khalid (0009-0008-1299-3448), Ihtisham Ullah (0009-0009-6755-7173), Agustino Silverius Mbunda (0009-0008-7364-4938), Saeed Agha Ahmadzai
Year2026
Pages172-186
Publication date2026-10-16
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2149-1291 • E-ISSN: 2149-1291
PublisherCenter for Ethnic and Cultural Studies (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.66815/ejecs/3353
OpenAlexW7222828278
LanguageEN
References cited16

This article examines the reported deportation and crisis-driven return of Pakistani migrant workers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the 2026 regional crisis and considers its implications for reintegration in Pakistan. Drawing on qualitative critical-interpretive document analysis, the study reviews event-specific journalistic reporting, Pakistani migration-governance documents, material on Gulf labor regimes, and scholarship on deportation and reintegration. The analysis does not find sufficient publicly available evidence to establish that the UAE implemented a formally documented policy of sectarian deportation against Pakistani Shi’a workers. Rather, it identifies a politically sensitive context in which routine immigration enforcement, reported experiences of discretionary suspicion, and the structural deportability of temporary migrant workers appeared to converge. Reported accounts indicate possible disruption to employment, access to savings, personal belongings, and future migration plans; read alongside reintegration scholarship, these accounts point to plausible economic, social, and psychosocial risks after return to Pakistan. The article develops the concept of securitized labor governance to explain how temporary labor regimes may become more security-inflected during geopolitical crisis without necessarily constituting a formal discriminatory policy. It concludes by recommending a coordinated, district-linked crisis-returnee response in Pakistan, including registration, consular case documentation, legal referral, psychosocial support, and livelihood assistance.

Deportation · immigration enforcement · livelihood assistance · migration governance · psychosocial risks · reintegration · return migration · temporary labour migration · United Arab Emirates · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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