Since late February 2026, Egyptian workers in Iraq—particularly in Baghdad, Karbala, Nasiriyah and Wasit—have been arrested and held at detention facilities run by the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s Residency Directorate. Despite paying residency-violation fines of about 150,000 Iraqi dinars, equivalent to EGP 6,233, they had not been released at the time of this report. Families who spoke to Zawia3 said the war and the closure of Iraqi airspace were being cited as reasons for their continued detention. Their mobile phones were confiscated, and they had been prevented from contacting their families for around a month.
The arrests coincided with intensified security campaigns against foreigners whose residency permits had expired or who had violated residency conditions, including people who entered on visitor or tourist visas but could not afford the fees required for work residency.
Aya Mamdouh is the wife of Mohamed Ibrahim Abdallah, a 27-year-old Egyptian construction worker from Abu Kebir in Sharqia. She says her husband traveled to Iraq last year on a visitor visa allowing a stay of no more than three months from the date of entry, hoping to find work. He intended to regularize his status and obtain work residency, but the war intervened. He and a friend were detained in Baghdad in late February.
Aya received a phone call informing her that her husband had been transferred to a detention center in Al-Nasr district. The family’s last direct contact with him had been about 20 days earlier; they had been unable to reach him since.
“Although his Egyptian colleagues told us a deportation order had been issued, we do not know when he will be released,” she tells Zawia3. “We contacted the Egyptian embassy in Baghdad and received no response.”
Mayada Aziz faces the same ordeal. Her husband, Abdelhamid Mohamed El-Sayed, a 35-year-old plasterer who supports three children, traveled to Iraq last year on a visitor visa, hoping to regularize his status later. Irregular daily-wage work left him unable to raise the money needed for residency fees. On March 10, Iraqi police raided his workplace in Nasiriyah, arrested him alongside other migrant workers and transferred them to a detention center for violating residency conditions. Mayada has been unable to contact him at all since learning of his arrest.
“I posted in a social-media group for the Egyptian community in Iraq,” she says. “An Iraqi lawyer contacted me and promised to follow his case if I transferred his fees and the fine. I agreed, hoping my husband would be released and either regularize his status in Iraq or be deported. But there has been no progress.”
Mayada says her family is living through severe humanitarian and financial hardship after losing contact with her detained husband. She appeals to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry to act urgently to resolve the detainees’ situation, either by regularizing their status or bringing them home.
Their accounts resemble that of Hossam Ali Rabie Morsi, a 25-year-old daily-wage worker from Beni Mazar in Minya. His fiancée, Shahinaz Hassan, tells Zawia3 that he and an Egyptian friend were arrested in Baghdad as soon as they left their accommodation in late February.
Hossam had been working irregularly in construction, and his residency had expired before his arrest. An Iraqi lawyer appointed by the family subsequently paid the prescribed fines, and an order was issued to deport both men to Egypt. That had still not happened: they remained in detention and had been permitted to contact their families only once.
“We were told the deportation order had not been implemented because airspace was closed, although all the procedures had been completed,” Shahinaz says. “We do not know when it will happen, or why available alternatives—such as traveling overland through Jordan—are not being used.”
She says her fiancé was preparing to return to Egypt as their wedding date approached. His detention has been a major blow, especially because he is his family’s principal breadwinner. She calls for urgent intervention to accelerate his return.
Ibrahim Barakat’s account echoes theirs. Unable to find accounting work in Egypt, he traveled to Iraq a year and two months earlier to work as a daily-wage construction worker. But the high cost of residency prevented him from saving enough to obtain a permit. He says this has left him and many others in violation of the law, facing fines followed by deportation or the regularization of their status.
“There is anger among Egyptians in Iraq because large numbers of us remain detained without being deported, amid the war, and because the Egyptian embassy in Baghdad has not intervened to resolve the crisis,” Ibrahim says. “There were efforts to organize protests outside the embassy demanding the detainees’ release, but Egyptian workers backed away because of the current security conditions.”
Ibrahim hopes Egypt’s Foreign Ministry and the relevant authorities will coordinate to obtain lists of detainees across Iraq’s governorates, then secure Jordanian security approvals to facilitate their overland return through Jordan, followed by travel from Aqaba port to Nuweiba.
Zawia3 obtained a list of 21 Egyptian citizens, together with passport photographs for those whose documents were available. Their relatives said they remained detained in Iraq over residency violations. The named men are Ali Adel Ali Desouki El-Wardani; Mohamed Mosaad Ibrahim Ahmed El-Maghrabi; Reda El-Sayed Hussein Mohamed; Abdelhamid Mohamed El-Sayed; El-Sayed Mohamed El-Sayed Omran; Hamada Hassan Shalqami Abdelrazek; Ahmed Saber Abdelgelil Hassan; Farag Sheikhoun Farag Mohamed; Abdelhamid Saeed Saber Hilal; Mohamed Salem Salem Sobh; Medhat Salem Salem Sobh; Fawzi Abdallah Farahat; Hossam Ali Rabie Morsi; Mohamed Ezzat Ahmed Ahmed; Mahmoud Gomaa Nassef; Ibrahim Aboulmagd Ahmed El-Ashmawi; El-Sayed Gamal El-Sayed Ali Saber; Mahmoud Mohamed Ibrahim; and Fawzi Emadeldin Zaki Farahat.
Colleagues also reported the arrest and detention of two other Egyptian workers, Taher Abou Zeid and Hamada Hamdy, but were unable to obtain their full identifying details.
In Egypt, their families live with intense anxiety, without confirmed information about the men’s health or legal circumstances and without direct channels of communication. Families who contacted Zawia3 called on the Foreign Ministry to intervene urgently and coordinate with Iraqi authorities to release the detainees and regularize their status, or deport them and provide safe routes home.
Fraud networks and costly residency fees
Mozahim Al-Huwait, a leader in Iraq’s State Administration Coalition and spokesperson for Arab tribes in Iraq, stresses the importance of Egyptian labor to the country. He says he opposes any further deterioration in the workers’ humanitarian situation and has contacted government authorities to review the detainees’ circumstances, release those facing no security suspicions and allow those with no violations to return to work.
He tells Zawia3 that part of the crisis stems from fraud perpetrated against Egyptian workers by illegal networks involving both Iraqi and Egyptian participants. These networks brought them to Iraq on visas unsuitable for work in exchange for money, without the Iraqi authorities’ knowledge. “These workers are victims and are not responsible for what happened,” he says. “Those involved in these operations must be held accountable.”
“I have called on the Iraqi government to grant these workers legal residency, especially those facing no charges, and to identify the companies and individuals involved in the fraud.”
On the high cost of residency, Al-Huwait urges his government to take migrant workers’ economic circumstances into account. He says efforts are being made to persuade the government to reduce fees and fines, particularly given the difficult economic conditions.
“I hope the situation of Egyptian workers in Iraq can be regularized instead of deporting them, given the depth of relations between the Egyptian and Iraqi peoples,” he says. “We are currently contacting the relevant bodies, including the Interior Ministry and security services, to find solutions.”
Al-Huwait denies that the closure of airspace prevents deportation orders from being carried out. Iraq has multiple land crossings that could be used to move deportees through neighboring countries such as Jordan, Türkiye, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, he says.
Although no official statistics establish the size of the Egyptian community in Iraq, the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s Residency Affairs Directorate said in 2023 that Syrians formed the country’s largest foreign community, followed by Egyptians. Iraqi Labor Ministry estimates put the number of Egyptian workers at about 40,000, working in medicine, engineering, construction, independent businesses such as poultry farming, local companies and healthcare institutions.
In 2017, the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce estimated that about 8,000 Egyptian workers had arrived in less than a year, spread across Baghdad, southern cities and the Kurdistan Region. Most worked in construction and excavation, including engineers and university graduates. In 2014, the Iraqi government requested around 80,000 Egyptian workers, but Egypt did not respond to the request.
Dr. Ayman Zohry, president of the Egyptian Society for Migration Studies, explains that Egyptian labor in Iraq has a long history, particularly during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s. Egyptians played a pivotal role in supporting Iraq’s labor market while large numbers of local workers were absent because of conscription. Their presence declined after the US invasion in 2003 and amid growing regional instability, which reduced formal employment opportunities and opened the way for irregular, low-cost labor.
He tells Zawia3 that Egyptians seeking work in countries experiencing armed conflict weigh risk against reward. Wages in such environments can exceed those in stable countries, encouraging some workers to accept the danger despite understanding it. These workers remain outside formal protection systems, heightening their exposure to legal and humanitarian risks.
Alternative routes home
As migrant-worker numbers grew, Iraq’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs called on foreign workers violating residency law to regularize their status, announcing that 5,600 workers had done so. It gave them until December 31, 2024 to avoid fines ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 dinars, followed by deportation or removal. During 2025, Iraq removed about 40,000 people for violating residency rules. Many Egyptian workers nevertheless remained unable to regularize their status because of the high cost of residence permits.
At the start of 2026, Iraqi security services launched intensive campaigns to arrest workers violating residency conditions, including Egyptians. They were supposed to be sent to Egypt after paying a 100,000-dinar fine and booking a flight, provided they held valid passports. But after regional war broke out, workers arrested during February and March found themselves detained indefinitely despite paying the prescribed fines and receiving removal orders, several Egyptian and Iraqi sources told Zawia3.
Zawia3 asked Ambassador Haddad Abdeltawab El-Gohary, assistant foreign minister for consular affairs and Egyptians abroad, about the situation. He said the Foreign Ministry handles complaints through direct official channels. Anyone with a problem should visit the consular department in the Isis Building in Garden City, where complaints are received and each case reviewed individually on the basis of submitted documents, enabling the relevant authorities to assess the situation and act.
On Egyptians in Iraq amid disrupted flights, he says: “Alternative routes have already been used. Large numbers of citizens have left Iraq through Jordan, then traveled to Egypt either through Amman airport or Aqaba port.”
The assistant foreign minister stresses that the government provides support through official mechanisms, urging affected citizens to approach the relevant consular authorities directly to present their problems and obtain assistance.
Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a former assistant foreign minister and member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, says efforts to address the situation of Egyptians detained abroad begin with documented applications to the Foreign Ministry’s consular department, including detainees’ names and details. The ministry can then contact Egypt’s embassy in the country concerned and examine each case: whether detention relates to entry on an unsuitable visa, residency without a legal permit, or legal obligations such as court cases or debts that may affect inclusion on departure lists.
“Disrupted flights in conflict zones do not prevent deportation orders from being carried out, because alternatives such as land crossings exist,” he says. “These are usually available to people facing no legal obstacles.”
He says countries experiencing conflict or war tend to introduce exceptional measures, including reducing irregular labor or workers without formal contracts. These groups are most vulnerable to losing work as economic activity contracts. He attributes Egyptians’ migration to such countries to economic pressure and the need for employment, which lead many to accept the risks despite official warnings against travel to unstable areas, seeking income amid limited opportunities at home.
Rawia Mokhtar, deputy chair of the House of Representatives’ Manpower Committee, tells Zawia3 that Egypt handles citizens’ circumstances abroad, particularly during war and crises, through exceptional procedures tailored to each situation. She cites previous cases in which coordination with Egyptian embassies secured citizens’ return or evacuation when necessary.
“The state does not abandon its citizens abroad,” she says. “Action is taken to ensure their safety according to the available circumstances, whether by bringing them home or taking appropriate measures to protect them.” She says she is ready to receive additional information about Egyptian workers detained in Iraq and pledges to follow the crisis with Manpower Committee members and establish the facts and developments.
Zawia3 also contacted Dr. Reham Aboulhassan, a member of the House’s Foreign Relations Committee. She expressed concern and pledged to convey the details and list of detained Egyptians to Foreign Minister Dr. Badr Abdelatty during his meeting with the committee. She later said the minister was personally following the crisis and had promised to instruct Egypt’s embassy in Baghdad to follow up.
Following US President Donald Trump’s April 8 announcement that he had agreed to suspend strikes on Iran for two weeks, families and Egyptian workers in Iraq hoped for urgent Egyptian diplomatic action to establish the detainees’ whereabouts, ensure contact with their relatives and resolve their legal status—either by regularizing their residency or arranging their return through safe routes.
