"Pakistan has been trying to help end the war in Iran, but that effort is now creating problems with one of its longtime partners, the United Arab Emirates. The rich Persian Gulf country has started a large-scale expulsion of Pakistani workers, threatening to cut off a vital source of jobs for Pakistan. ...
"The Pakistani foreign ministry has denied that Pakistani citizens have been deported en masse and did not respond to questions about whether Shiites were singled out. The ministry’s spokesman, Tahir Andrabi, said the expulsions were of Pakistanis who had committed crimes in the Emirates. ...
"On April 13, Ali Hamza, 25, a security administrator for a major Emirati logistics company, said he was picked up at his office by a plainclothes officer and taken to the Al Awir detention center. He said he was deported to Pakistan on April 21. A dozen Pakistanis interviewed by the Times described similar experiences and requested anonymity because they hoped to recover money and assets left behind in the Emirates, or hoped to return."