"Gulf States: Repression of Migrant Workers During Conflict" 11 June

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) governments have intensified restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly amid ongoing conflict and economic turmoil, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. These latest measures exacerbate existing restrictions on migrant workers’ ability to raise concerns about working conditions in an already repressive environment for migrant workers and trade unions.

“The conflict in the Gulf region has spawned a new level of surveillance of migrant workers’ communications, undermining their ability to raise concerns about labor abuses and dangerous working conditions,”

Human Rights Watch in March 2026 interviewed 38 Indian, Nepali, and Bangladeshi migrant workers based in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about the impact of armed conflict in the region on their physical and economic security. 

Many workers were particularly worried about their ability to speak out on issues they faced with human rights organizations and media, even under conditions of anonymity. 

Several migrant workers and community leaders, including those in Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar, described random police checks of residents’ mobile phones during the conflict.

GCC countries have justified these restrictions on the need to protect national security and to prevent misinformation, and several workers said that they believed certain restrictions could help prevent panic and misinformation. However, under international human rights law and standards, restrictions on the right to freedom of expression must be provided by law and be strictly necessary and proportionate to one of the limited legitimate aims.

The abuses against migrant workers are compounded by the systematic denial of migrant workers’ right to organize. Trade unions, which give a collective voice and representation to workers and can be particularly critical in times of crisis, are either banned, exclude migrant workers, or are so tightly restricted as to be meaningless. With no safe or effective channels to raise grievances, some workers are driven to strike despite the risk of facing employer retaliation, as well as arrest, detention, and deportation.