WARS are often measured in territory gained or lost, in strikes carried out and responses promised.

But long before those calculations settle, their consequences begin to surface elsewhere, in quieter, less visible ways. Today, as tensions escalate around Iran and ripple across the Middle East, those consequences are being felt not in corridors of power, but among the millions of migrant workers who keep the region running and whose livelihoods now hang in the balance.

Across the Gulf, millions of South Asian workers continue to go about their routines on construction sites, in airports, in hospitals, and in homes, even as the region around them grows more uncertain. For years, these workers have been the quiet engine behind the Gulf’s growth. In return, the wages they send back have sustained families, stabilized communities, and, in countries like Pakistan, quietly supported economic stability.

That arrangement has always depended on one thing: stability. Today, that stability can no longer be taken for granted. The immediate effects of the current escalation are uneven but visible. Airspace disruptions, pressure on energy........

© Pakistan Observer