In a cluster of villages in Pakistan’s largely ⁠rural Chakwal district, more than 100 Shiite Muslims have returned from the United Arab Emirates without jobs, luggage or access to the savings they spent years building abroad.

They are among potentially thousands of Shi’ites deported from the UAE to Pakistan during the Iran war, raising alarm in Pakistan’s Shiite community and prompting Human Rights Watch to investigate.

Journalists reviewed immigration documents, visa-status screenshots and flight details for 103 Pakistanis who said they were deported Shi’ites, interviewing 24 of them. Each interviewee said they were unable to retrieve luggage or savings before being placed ‌on flights alongside dozens of other Shiite deportees.

A database compiled by the Pakistani Shiite political organisation Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimee lists 7,500 Pakistani Shi’ites deported from the Gulf Arab state since February 28, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Group spokesperson Mohsin Abidi said the actual number was likely far higher.

Deportations accelerating

Leaders of Pakistan’s Shiite community say the deportations have accelerated during the war, which has heightened tensions across the Gulf, particularly as Iran responded by launching missile and drone strikes on the UAE.

Reuters could not determine the criteria the UAE authorities used to select the Pakistanis for deportation.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on a list of questions from journalists about the deportations.

Pakistan’s interior ministry said in a statement the UAE ⁠had not deported anyone based on sect, saying any deportations were for violating UAE regulations. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said “deportation figures remain steady” this year, without providing details.

But a senior Pakistani government official, who asked not to be ‌identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Islamabad was “reviewing the situation after receiving thousands of Pakistanis deported from UAE”, most of them Shi’ites. He said the Pakistani government had not openly taken up the case for “diplomatic reasons”, without offering details.