Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladeshi migrant workers in Gulf countries are facing mounting uncertainty over jobs, safety and future migration as the ongoing Middle East war disrupts labour markets, researchers and migration experts said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference organised by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) at the National Press Club, experts warned that prolonged conflict could severely impact employment opportunities for lakhs of Bangladeshi workers in the region.
“Due to the war, outgoing worker flow already decreased by 50% in March compared to the same month last year,” RMMRU said, citing data from the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
“At least 5,000 Bangladeshi workers lost jobs in Lebanon. Saudi companies have reduced their workforce. Since the war began, workers are facing wage cuts, wage theft and rising inflation in the Gulf,” said Dr Mohammad Rashed Alam Bhuiyan, associate professor of Political Science at University of Dhaka.
He added that at least 11 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed in Gulf countries due to the conflict.
“About 200 Bangladeshis have returned from Iran since the war began. But we have not received complete data on returnees from the government, which is crucial for their reintegration,” said Dr Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of RMMRU.
She urged the expatriate welfare ministry to allocate budgetary resources for war-affected migrants instead of relying on the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board fund, which is built from workers’ contributions.
RMMRU said the war had already disrupted business and economic activity across the Gulf and warned that the uncertainty could affect Saudi Vision 2030 mega projects such as NEOM, Red Sea Project and Qiddiya, which were expected to create long-term jobs for Bangladeshi workers in construction and services.
The organisation warned that declining investor confidence, rising costs and possible infrastructure damage could wipe out many of these opportunities.
It also raised concerns over the possible expansion of the conflict to the United Arab Emirates, saying its involvement alongside the United States and Israel could expose it to retaliatory attacks from Iran.
Such a development could put the lives and livelihoods of nearly two million Bangladeshis in the UAE at risk.
The press conference also highlighted that disruptions in regional transport and air travel had created a “second crisis” in migration recruitment.
“Delays and cancellations in worker deployment are triggering disputes between recruiting agents and aspiring migrant workers over costs and payments,” RMMRU said.
Dr Mohammad Jalal Uddin Shikder, migration expert at North South University, said there was no real-time monitoring dashboard for cancelled flights, stranded migrants and returnee flows from conflict-hit areas.
He also said there was no coordinated response plan, no reintegration programme for returnees from Iran or Gulf countries, and no emergency support system for workers stranded abroad after losing income.
RMMRU expressed concern over domestic workers, calling them among the most isolated and vulnerable migrant groups, often outside emergency communication systems such as WhatsApp-based crisis networks.
The organisation also said loan disbursement from Probashi Kallyan Bank had effectively stalled due to mandatory flight ticket requirements.
To address the crisis, RMMRU recommended setting up special migrant crisis response cells at Bangladeshi embassies in GCC countries, along with 24/7 Bangla-language hotlines, emergency airfare support, cash assistance for returnees from Iran, and food, shelter and mental health support for stranded workers.
It also urged the government to create crisis alert systems in Bangla via WhatsApp and SMS, and to diversify Bangladesh’s overseas labour markets beyond the Gulf in the long term.