"Residence Permits Revoked and Renewal Denied... Testimonies from Affected Egyptians in the UAE Contradict the Official Account", 25 August 2026

A few days ago, videos began circulating that showed gatherings of dozens of people, filmed from a distance, accompanied by comments claiming that the participants were Egyptian workers in the UAE whose residency permits had been revoked and whose employment contracts had been terminated without warning. At the same time, Egyptian communities in the Gulf nation witnessed a wave of complaints and pleas for help, with those affected reporting that their residencies had been revoked or their employment terminated, despite their assurances that they had fulfilled all legal procedures and requirements...

The story of one of those affected began before he left the UAE, when he moved from a job at a marketing company in Dubai to a job offer at a large company in Abu Dhabi, which he says is affiliated with a quasi-governmental entity; Because of his move to the new employer, he canceled his previous residency permit, which had about four or five months remaining on its validity, and was granted a one-month grace period to apply for a new residency permit through the procedures for transferring a worker from one establishment to another... However, what should have been a routine procedure turned into a series of rejections and requests for additional documents... He says these procedures took about ten days and cost him more than 30,000 Egyptian pounds, but he was surprised when, after completing them, his residency application was rejected once again... He does not believe that what happened is related to corporate violations or fake residencies...An employee at a large company operating in Abu Dhabi says he meets all the legal requirements for residency and that there are no clear reasons for the cancellation, explaining that his residency was canceled on August 10, just ten days after his arrival in Egypt, even though it had more than a year remaining. A fifth affected individual says his residency was renewed in April and he left the UAE on the 29th of that month, only to be surprised by its revocation on August 22 despite having received approval, with nearly two years remaining on its validity...

Khalifa cites the size of the Egyptian community to underscore the sensitivity of the issue, noting that there are approximately 1.3 million Egyptians and remittances totaling about $3.6 billion during the 2024–2025 fiscal year... Regarding the repercussions of the recent Israeli-Iranian conflict, Rabie says that regional developments may affect the nature of relations between the two countries, noting that one potential source of pressure could be “the expulsion of Egyptian workers or restrictions on those already working” in the UAE. He believes that the issue of Egyptian workers could be a source of tension and that current events reflect the ambiguity in a relationship that, in his assessment, has persisted since 2013...

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[Unofficial translation from Arabic to English provided by the Business & Human Rights Centre].