Millions of migrant workers, who support some of the Middle East’s most crucial sectors, are in the line of fire as Iran retaliates against the US-Israeli strikes that killed the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.

Southeast and South Asian nations supply a large share of the labor in the Gulf, including medical practitioners, construction workers and household help that make up a migrant workforce the International Labour Organization estimates at over 24 million.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan said on Monday they’re monitoring the location of their citizens and urged them to shelter in place. Evacuation and repatriation plans are being prepared should the attacks worsen, they said in separate statements…

Migrant workers are crucial to the Middle East economy, accounting for over 40% of the region’s labor force, the highest proportion in the world, according to the ILO.

Many of them are in low-income work and often lack adequate protection. Previous conflicts in the Middle East have seen some migrant workers abandoned by employers, often without their wages or travel documents.

Philippine Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said in a briefing Monday that the government is ready to order a mandatory repatriation of the nation’s 2.4 million workers in the Middle East if the conflict escalates…