A few days ago, videos spread documenting gatherings of dozens of people, filmed from a distance, accompanied by comments saying that the participants were Egyptian workers in the UAE whose residencies had been cancelled and whose employment contracts had been terminated suddenly. At the same time, groups of Egyptians residing in the Gulf state saw a wave of complaints and appeals for help, whose authors spoke of the cancellation of their residencies or the termination of their jobs, despite insisting that they had met the legal procedures and requirements.
As the controversy grew, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stepped into the crisis, denying the existence of any exceptional measures or a general crisis targeting Egyptians, and asserting that the cases observed were linked to regulatory violations or to staying outside the country for more than six months; Ambassador Haddad El-Gohary, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs, said in televised remarks that the cases raised recently were due to violations of residency regulations and conditions or to regulatory audit procedures, and that they are all individual incidents. Likewise, the diplomatic adviser to the President of the UAE, Anwar Gargash, denied the existence of a crisis, considering what is being circulated to be “incorrect information” falling within “desperate media campaigns”, and said in a post on the platform X that “some directed platforms are circulating false information” about the UAE, and that “facts and tangible achievements are stronger than rumours”.
But testimonies documented by Zawia3 contradict the official narrative; we spoke to 12 people who said they had been harmed by the cancellation of their residencies or the impossibility of renewing them in the UAE, as well as a number of family members of residents there, and we monitored the complaints of dozens through Egyptian community groups; some of the speakers estimated the number of those affected in the thousands, without our being able to verify this estimate independently. Zawia3 has withheld the names of the speakers to protect them, and because a number of them wish to return to the UAE, and documented their accounts through direct interviews and by following the community groups; given the nature of individual administrative decisions, Zawia3 was not in a position to verify each decision independently against official records, which makes the demand for a transparent official investigation essential in this case.
Those affected affirm that they were taken by surprise by the cancellation of their residency, and in some cases the residency was still valid for long periods, while all of them affirmed that they had received no clear explanation of the reasons for the cancellation, and had been unable to find out whether they could return to the UAE on new visas.
The number of Egyptians residing in the UAE is estimated at about 1.3 million people as of the end of 2024, according to the latest estimates of the Egyptian mission in the UAE cited by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). This community also carries economic importance, as remittances from Egyptians working in the UAE reached about $3.6 billion in the last fiscal year (2024/2025), compared with $1.8 billion in the previous year, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics.
From a routine procedure to repeated rejection
The story of one of those affected began before he left the UAE, when he moved from working at a marketing company in Dubai to a job offer at a large company in Abu Dhabi, which he says is affiliated with a semi-governmental entity; because of his move to the new employer, he cancelled his previous residency, which had about four or five months of validity left, and obtained a one-month grace period in preparation for issuing a new residency through the procedures for transferring a worker from one establishment to another.
But the routine procedure turned into a series of rejections and requests for additional documents, as he says he applied to transfer his residency more than once, and each time it was rejected, before he was asked to submit a criminal record certificate, known in Egypt as “al-fish wal-tashbih”, as one of the new requirements for Egyptians. According to his account, he obtained the certificate in Dubai for about 220 dirhams, and was then told that he had to obtain it from the UAE Ministry of Interior and have it attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the company kept reapplying on his behalf at least four times. He adds that he was later asked, given the “semi-governmental” nature of the company, to obtain a certificate from the Egyptian embassy in the UAE and send it to Egypt to be attested by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, before completing authentication at the UAE embassy in Egypt. He says these procedures took about ten days, and that what he spent exceeded 30,000 Egyptian pounds, but after completing them he was surprised to have his residency application rejected again.
After the repeated rejections, he went to the passports department in the hope of finding out the reason, and says: “I explained my situation to them, and said that I had completed all the required papers, and that the company had applied more than once, so why is my residency not being accepted?” He adds that the reply he received was that “Egyptians’ residencies are suspended”, and that he had to wait until new instructions appeared; he understood from this that the problem had nothing to do with his papers or with the company, but with the fact that he is Egyptian. He points out that other cases, as far as he knows, affected people who were trying to renew their existing residencies, while the residencies of others were cancelled while they were outside the UAE.
He says that his experience ultimately pushed him to return to Egypt after bearing the costs of housing and living throughout his waiting period, without being able to complete his job, stressing that he does not want to violate any procedures, but is waiting, in his words, “for the matter to be officially opened and for the procedures to become clear”. He does not see the explanation that what happened is linked to company violations or fictitious residencies as accounting for his experience, pointing out that some of the cases he knows of were linked to large, well-known companies, among them colleagues who returned to work for companies with branches inside Egypt, and he himself now works in Egypt and is paid his salary in pounds instead of dirhams. He puts forward a political explanation for what is happening, but presents it as a personal belief with no direct evidence, saying: “The issue, as I understand it, is that there is a dispute between big parties, and we are the ones paying the price”, stressing that what bothers him is not only the rejection of his residency, but also the money and time he spent before returning without knowing why his application was rejected.
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Security cancellation
One of those affected, who preferred not to be named, says that he works through a company owned by his brother and holds an official power of attorney for it, and that the company’s status is in order, explaining that he left the UAE on leave about a month ago, before discovering that his residency had been cancelled while he was outside the country in mid-August this month. He explains that he tried to inquire about the reason and contacted a person who works in the passports field, and was told, according to his account, that the matter was linked to “the system” and that the cancellation had been carried out randomly, and when he asked about the possibility of returning he was told that this was not currently possible, and that the reason cited upon inquiry is “security cancellation”; he notes that he has not yet filed a formal grievance, and that matters are still hazy in the absence of a clear path for a grievance or for finding out the reason and addressing it.
In a related context, a resident of Abu Dhabi says that he has lived in the UAE on a regular basis for about 20 years, and left it on 30 July to spend a holiday, before discovering on 10 August that his residency had been cancelled even though its validity extended for about 18 months; he affirms that there is no clear reason, pointing to the state of “tension” between Cairo and Abu Dhabi following the war as a possible cause, and says that “in recent months Egyptians have faced a state of resentment that is unjustified and has not been officially declared”, describing this as a clear shift in how they are treated. In another case, an employee of a large company operating in Abu Dhabi says that he meets all the legal conditions for residency and that there are no clear reasons for the cancellation, explaining that his residency was cancelled on 10 August after only ten days in Egypt, while it had more than a year left to run. A fifth affected person says that his residency was renewed in April and that he left the UAE on 29 April, before being surprised by its cancellation on 22 August despite his having obtained approval, and it had about two years of validity left.
The affected people we spoke to do not believe that what happened can simply be explained by violations at their companies or in their employment status; one of them says that the company he works for is one of the major companies executing projects in Abu Dhabi and that salaries are paid regularly, yet the residencies of a number of workers were cancelled after they left to spend their holidays. Another says that friends of his who work at foreign companies and at major companies in the energy sector were also subjected, according to what he learned, to the cancellation of their residency despite their employers being in good standing; while one of those affected sums up his objection by saying that a problem with the documents of the worker or the company, if there is one, ought to lead to a request to complete or correct the papers, not to the sudden cancellation of an existing residency, and says: “If there are papers that need amending, it is natural to contact the person or the company, and not to renew until the requirements are met; but for a residency that has already been approved to be cancelled, that is what we do not understand.”
Among the cases that differ from the pattern of workers who are new to the UAE is a teacher who says that he has spent 14 years in the country, that his residency is tied to his school and his salary is paid regularly, and that he has completed the equivalency of his qualification and holds a certificate of good conduct, yet his residency was cancelled while he was outside the UAE. He asks: “I am a teacher, my residency is through the school, my salary comes in regularly, I have spent 14 years in the country, I did the equivalency and I hold a certificate of good conduct, and yet my residency was cancelled while I was outside the country on my annual leave.”
The employment of workers in the private sector in the UAE is subject to a legal framework that regulates the issuance, renewal and cancellation of work permits, under Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, which came into force in February 2022; a worker may not work, nor may an employer employ him, before obtaining a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation in accordance with the provisions of the law and its executive regulations. The regulations set the conditions for issuing the permit, including the compatibility of the profession with the establishment’s activity, the validity of its licence and the absence of violations, and they also regulate the procedures for renewal and cancellation, and give the ministry the power to refrain from issuing, renewing or cancelling the permit in specific cases. The existence of a valid residency is thus linked to the worker’s legal status and work permit; which makes the essential question, one that the official statements have not answered and of which those affected have not been informed, what specific legal basis was relied upon in each case of cancellation, and why the cancellation affected residencies described as valid and meeting the conditions.
In another case, one of those affected says that he is an investor who owns an established company in the UAE that has employees, premises, bank accounts and a tax card, and affirms that it operates normally without legal or administrative problems, yet his residency was cancelled while he was outside the country; he then applied for a visit visa and was refused, and he wonders about the fate of his business and whether he can enter the UAE and settle his status.
In some cases, those affected only learned that their residencies had been cancelled when they tried to return; one of them says that he discovered the cancellation at the airport after arriving, while he was working for a large international company, and was forced to go back after losing the cost of the ticket. In another case, an affected person discovered at the airport on 22 August that his residency had been cancelled, and the next day applied for a visit visa, which was refused; when he inquired, he received a reply referring to “security procedures”, while someone advised him not to apply for a new visit visa before a month had passed. Another account says that an affected person’s residency was cancelled on 24 August and that he discovered this when trying to travel while he was still tied to his job at a large company; likewise, one of the affected women says that her husband was outside the UAE on holiday when his residency was cancelled, without the family receiving a clear explanation.
Why now?
Shaaban Khalifa, head of the Private Sector Workers’ Union and a labour and political leader, says in an interview with Zawia3 that over the past days he has followed the incidents and complaints raised regarding the cancellation of the residencies of a number of Egyptians working and residing in the UAE, and the widespread anxiety they have caused within the community, especially as some of those affected have spoken of their residencies being suddenly cancelled while they were in Egypt on holiday, which places them in extremely complex humanitarian, professional and legal situations. He explains that what is happening raises legitimate questions, especially given what he sees as an absence of similar incidents at the same pace among other communities and nationalities, but he stresses that he does not want to pre-empt the results of any investigations or to make accusations without evidence.
He adds that these incidents should not be dealt with as passing administrative procedures if their multiplicity and recurrence among Egyptians who have worked and lived there for years is proven, and he poses a question he considers essential: “Are we facing individual measures to apply residency laws, or a broader policy targeting Egyptian workers?” He believes that if the measures are individual, the Emirati authorities must explain their reasons and criteria to the public and to the Egyptian embassy, and ensure that no citizen is subjected to a sudden or arbitrary measure without a clear legal basis; but if there are new restrictions concerning Egyptian workers, the matter “goes beyond the scope of administrative procedures to become a file that touches on economic and social security and the rights of millions of Egyptian families”. He categorically rejects turning Egyptian workers into a pressure card in any political dispute between Cairo and Abu Dhabi, saying that the Egyptian worker “is not a party to any political dispute, but a citizen who went out in search of a livelihood”.
Khalifa cites the size of the community to demonstrate the sensitivity of the file, pointing to about 1.3 million Egyptians and remittances of about $3.6 billion in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, and says that these are not “marginal figures”, but reflect a human and economic weight that means any widespread disruption in the situation of workers would have direct repercussions on millions of families and on foreign currency flows to Egypt. He adds that the sensitivity of the file is multiplied by the scale of the intertwined interests between the two countries, noting that the volume of trade exchange reached about $9.7 billion in 2025 according to official Emirati data. Accordingly, he believes that the Egyptian government is required to act urgently to protect its citizens, proposing the formation of a joint crisis cell including the ministries of foreign affairs, labour and emigration and the consular authorities to count the cases and follow up on every Egyptian who has been subjected to cancellation or refusal of renewal, and to call on the Emirati side, through official channels, to clarify the truth of what is happening and whether there are new instructions concerning Egyptian workers, while providing legal and consular protection to those affected.
He also calls for an urgent, high-level diplomatic dialogue to arrive at a transparent solution, while informing public opinion of the truth of the situation away from vague statements, stressing that “Egyptians have the right to know what is happening to their fellow citizens abroad”, and that “relations between states are built on interests and mutual respect, not on pressuring Egypt through workers”. Should an organised tendency to target Egyptian workers be proven, he believes the government must move from the stage of seeking clarification to “a firm political and diplomatic position”, warning against reducing workers to numbers, and saying that behind every worker there is “a family waiting for his salary”. He stresses: “Egyptians are not a pressure card, the dignity of the Egyptian worker is not negotiable, and protecting citizens abroad is the responsibility of a state, not a favour from anyone”, calling for action before the individual cases expand and turn into a collective crisis that is difficult to contain.
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Undeclared tension
Last May, The Economist magazine discussed the existence of a cautious tension between Egypt and the UAE that mixes Egyptian financial dependence with fears about the expansion of Emirati influence in the region, describing the relationship as “the mother of the world versus the newcomer”; in contrast, the Egyptian State Information Service considered this argument simplistic, asserting that the relationship is a strategic partnership, not merely one of donor and recipient. The magazine pointed out that Egypt needs the UAE but is worried about its growing influence, and that Abu Dhabi has become a highly influential economic player in Egypt, benefiting from Cairo’s need for foreign currency and investment, while a section of Egyptians believe that the economic crisis has pushed the state to sell assets, land and sectors to Gulf investors, led by the Emiratis, a feeling that the magazine says breeds bitterness among some of them, whereas Emiratis see the Egyptian reaction as carrying a degree of ingratitude towards a country that has provided substantial support.
Dr Amr Hashem Rabie, deputy head of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, says in statements to Zawia3 that reading Egyptian-Emirati relations under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed raises a great deal of “confusion”, because there are aspects of repulsion alongside aspects of attraction and cooperation. He explains that this contradiction appears in economic and political relations, pointing to the volume of Emirati investments in Egypt and what he described as “opening the field for the UAE to draw on Egypt’s resources to the point of plunder”, in his words, whether in beaches, the management of ports or the purchase of factories, accompanied by a political rapprochement embodied in mutual visits. On the other hand, Rabie sees another, “dark” side linked to the Emirati position on regional files such as Sudan, Libya and Ethiopia, and to what he considers Emirati support for parties in them, asking: “How can these contradictory aspects exist in the same relationship?”
Regarding the repercussions of the recent Israeli-Iranian war, Rabie says that regional developments may be reflected in the nature of dealings between the two countries, pointing out that one of the possible forms of pressure could be “expelling workers or restricting the workers present” in the UAE, and considering that the file of Egyptian workers may be one of the faces of the tension, and that what is happening reflects the state of ambiguity in the relationship, which has continued, by his estimate, since 2013. He stresses the difficulty of giving a definitive answer about the future of relations, saying that any predictions will remain closer to impressions than to certain analysis, and that talking about scenarios amid this ambiguity is, in his words, like “reading cowrie shells”.
In recent years, the Emirati economic presence in Egypt has expanded remarkably, and is no longer limited to real estate and tourism, but has extended to financial, industrial, logistics, food and pharmaceutical sectors. The holding company ADQ, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds, was at the heart of this expansion; in April 2022 it announced investments in stakes in prominent Egyptian companies, including Commercial International Bank (CIB), the electronic payments company Fawry, Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling, and the two companies MOPCO and Abu Qir Fertilizers, then its portfolio expanded into the pharmaceutical sector through the acquisition of Amoun Pharmaceutical. In January 2024, ADQ and ADNEC signed an agreement to acquire a 40.5% stake in ICON, the hospitality arm of Talaat Moustafa Group, which indirectly included a stake in seven heritage hotels owned by the Egyptian government, among them Mena House, Marriott Omar Khayyam, Winter Palace Luxor and Old Cataract Aswan. This path reached its peak in February 2024 with the announcement of the Ras El-Hekma deal, which the government described as the largest foreign direct investment in the country’s history, worth $35 billion; of this, 24 billion was for the rights to develop the area, in addition to the conversion of $11 billion of Emirati deposits at the Central Bank of Egypt into investments, according to ADQ. The project covers about 170 million square metres (more than 40,000 feddans), and its development was undertaken by the Emirati company Modon; according to ADQ’s financial statements, $24 billion was paid in 2024 for the land rights, while the Egyptian government announced that the state retains a 35% stake in the project.
The issue of Egyptian workers in the UAE, with its intersecting testimonies, still requires a transparent official investigation that clarifies the reasons and criteria and gives those affected a clear path for grievances. What is established from the accounts of those who spoke to Zawia3 is that valid residencies were suddenly cancelled without a written explanation, and that some of them were told verbally that the cancellation was a “security” one without its basis being specified, while linking what happened to a political dispute between Cairo and Abu Dhabi has remained a personal interpretation by those who made it, not an official reason given to anyone or one based on a declared decision. Between the two governments’ denial of a crisis targeting Egyptians, and their description of what happened as individual incidents and regulatory violations, and what those affected recount about the cancellation of residencies that met the requirements without a clear reason, separating the hypothesis of individual measures from the hypothesis of a broader policy remains dependent on what the official authorities in both countries reveal about the specific legal basis for each case.
