Smoke billows from Zayed Port after an Iranian attack, following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 1, 2026. Photo taken with a phone. PHOTO: REUTERS
Abdul Malick sat among mourning relatives in his village, receiving condolences from neighbors after his nephew, Muzaffar Ali, was killed in Dubai last week.
Ali, a 27-year-old worker, was one of two Pakistanis killed in Iranian retaliatory attacks on Gulf countries since the start of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic two weeks ago. Debris fell on his vehicle when a projectile was intercepted.
“It’s a great tragedy for a family whose sole breadwinner was lost,” said Malick, flanked by Ali’s three young children.
“We have nothing to do with this war. It is unfortunate that the poor are used as fuel for a conflict in which they have no part,” he said. AFP.
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Ali moved to Dubai from Sindh’s Jamshoro district four years ago.
Relatives offer prayers on the grave of Pakistani national Muzaffar Ali, killed in Dubai amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, after his funeral in Jamshoro, Sindh province, on March 12, 2026. PHOTO: AFP
Another Pakistani victim, Murib Zaman, a 48-year-old father of five from Bannu, had worked as a driver in the United Arab Emirates for the past 25 years.
A third was killed in a drone strike while fishing in Iranian waters, officials said.
Pakistan, which has condemned Tehran’s retaliatory attacks, shares a border with Iran in the southwest and is increasingly feeling the direct effects of the Middle East war.
Rising oil prices have forced fuel prices to soar at the pump, while the attacks have prompted the return of some 4,000 people, including students, from Iran.
Remittances from the Gulf are important for South Asian countries and in Pakistan they are equivalent to around 3-5% of GDP, according to a note by analysts Capital Economics.
More than 5.5 million Pakistanis, many of them unskilled workers, work in the region, especially in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and the money they send home is vital to supporting their families.
Mourners gather to offer their condolences following the death of Pakistani national Muzaffar Ali after his funeral. PHOTO: AFP
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Remittances help households cover daily expenses, but also finance education, healthcare and small businesses, boosting domestic consumption and economic activity.
Earlier this week, the State Bank of Pakistan said the country received $3.3 billion in foreign remittances in February 2026, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%.
Capital Economics warned that a prolonged conflict could hit Gulf economies, with a knock-on effect on remittances to South Asia.
For now, most Pakistani workers appear to stay in the Gulf. The Foreign Office said the numbers returning were “too few to consider a major departure”.
Abdul Malick, transporter and uncle of Pakistani national Muzaffar Ali, shows a photo of Ali on his cell phone. PHOTO: AFP
Zaman’s cousin, Farmanullah, who only uses one name, said AFP that his dream was for Bannu to develop similar to Dubai and for there to be peace at home.
“Unfortunately, that wish was not fulfilled,” he added.
In Sindh, Malick said the family was “disappointed” to have not received any financial support from either the UAE or the Pakistani government so far.
“It’s ironic that when he left Pakistan, we were happy that he went to one of the safest countries in the world, only to receive his body,” he said. AFP.
“We demand that this war be ended so that innocent workers like Ali are not used as fuel,” he added.
“We also demand that the UAE government provide necessary protection and security to civilian workers.”
