DUBAI (AsiaNews): Anxiety, fear, and a rising death toll mark the conflict launched by Israel and the United States against Iran on February 28. Raids on Tehran and the killing of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were followed by a military response from the Islamic Republic across the Gulf region, leaving migrant workers particularly vulnerable.
Within this diverse community, originating from South and Southeast Asia and scattered across regions now engulfed in conflict—from Israel to Kuwait, and from the United Arab Emirates to Oman—there have already been multiple fatalities.
As was the case following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, expatriates remain the overlooked victims of a region in turmoil, due in part to their sheer numbers. According to the latest data from the International Labour Organisation, over 24 million people from Asia work in the Gulf as doctors, nurses, construction workers, and domestic staff.
The first official victim recorded in Israel was Mary Ann Velazquez de Vera, a 39-year-old from Pangasinan, the Philippines. She died after being struck by shrapnel from a missile while assisting the elderly man she cared for to reach an air-raid shelter in Tel Aviv during the night of 28 February to March 1.
The missile launched by Iran penetrated Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, striking a residential area and severely damaging two buildings, one of which lacked armoured rooms. The attack also caused 27 other injuries, two of them serious.
According to the latest data from the International Labour Organisation, over 24 million people from Asia work in the Gulf as doctors, nurses, construction workers, and domestic staff
In a video message, the Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed her death. She was identified by her husband, who is also an overseas Filipino worker in Israel.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, there are approximately 975,000 Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates, 813,000 in Saudi Arabia, and 250,000 in Qatar, as well as 800 in Iran and 31,000 in Israel.
Danger and death also came from the sea: a rocket struck the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, MKD VYOM, killing a crew member, while the vessel was sailing off the coast of Oman.
In a statement, ship owner V.Ships Asia confirmed that “the vessel suffered an explosion and subsequent fire after being hit by a suspected projectile while off the coast of Muscat, Oman, on March 1” and “one crew member, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, died”. The nationality of the victim was not specified, but the crew was made up almost entirely of Indian seafarers.
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Three migrants—of Pakistani, Nepalese, and Bangladeshi nationality—died in the United Arab Emirates, though their identities have not been publicly disclosed. Local sources in Bangladesh named one of the victims as Salekh Uddin, originally from Baralekha municipality in Moulvibazar. He was killed on March 1 when an Iranian missile struck the city of Ajman during Tehran’s retaliatory response to the US-Israeli assault.
Another 58 nationals from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Uganda, Eritrea, Lebanon, and Afghanistan suffered various injuries
Another 58 nationals from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Uganda, Eritrea, Lebanon, and Afghanistan suffered various injuries. Among those wounded by the missiles launched from Tehran were also Iranian citizens working in the Emirates.
The Abu Dhabi Ministry of Defence reported that the air force and anti-aircraft systems, as of March 2, had to intercept 165 ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles, and 541 drones launched from Iran since February 28.
One of the regions following the war closely is Kerala, India, where families expressed deep anxiety for the fate of their relatives in the Gulf countries.
Several accounts hark back to the days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with workers confined indoors in an attempt to avoid missiles and drones from Iran, unable to return home.
Explosions and widespread damage have heightened the sense of uncertainty: “We couldn’t sleep a wink on Saturday [February 28] night,” said Zaneesha Rensin, who lives in Qatar with her family. “My daughter and my sister’s children stayed awake, huddled together, gripped by fear,” she adds.
