Migrants in UAE turn to crypto to send remittances home

A vendor waits for customers at his store in a market area in Dubai on May 18, 2023. (Photo courtesy: AFP)
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Updated 09 June 2023
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Migrants in UAE turn to crypto to send remittances home

  • Almost 90 percent of the UAE’s population are migrants
  • Many say crypto is cheaper and easier way to send cash

Muhammed Bilal used to have to wait his turn outside a money transfer office in the scorching heat of Dubai to send home $1,000 to his wife and parents in Pakistan each month, at a cost of about $7 per transfer.

He has since switched to an app that allows him to send money instantly with no transfer fees, joining a growing number of migrants in the United Arab Emirates using cryptocurrencies and blockchain services to send remittances quickly and cheaply.

“Now, I don’t need to wait in queues,” said Bilal, a 27-year-old customer service agent.

“I do it at home from my mobile phone and the money is sent within seconds.”

The Middle East and North Africa had the fastest-growing crypto market in the world last year, according to blockchain data platform Chainalysis, with crypto transfers into the region rising by 48 percent to $566 billion in the year to June.

The use of crypto for remittances and savings, as well as increasingly permissive regulations are helping to drive growth in the region, it added.

The UAE plans to make Dubai “the first city fully powered by blockchain,” and has developed laws and regulatory systems around digital assets as it pushes to become a hub for the crypto industry.

Antti Arponen, CEO of Dubai-based fintech firm Pyypl, said 5 million people had downloaded the app since its launch in 2017.

“Eighty percent of our users are migrants and the numbers have been growing exponentially in the past few years,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Migrant workers said crypto offered a better deal than traditional banking and money transfer services, despite a crash in the market last year that left many holders of digital coins nursing heavy losses.

“With crypto, there are almost zero fees — easy, instant and safe,” said Gerard Dingal, a 30-year-old pastry chef, who has been using crypto and Pyypl to send money to his mother and sister in the Philippines.

But such platforms expose users to the risk of scams and highly volatile currencies, said Pete Howson, a crypto expert and assistant professor in international development at Northumbria University, in the British city of Newcastle.

“Users’ funds aren’t insured when they use these sorts of platforms (crypto and blockchain-based apps), like they are with a bank,” he said.

Migrants seek value

Nearly 90 percent of the UAE’s 9.3-million population are migrants, according to a report by the UN Capital Development Fund last year, many from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Egypt.

They account for billions of dollars in remittances to their home countries, but most are manual workers who do not earn the 5,000 dirham ($1,350) minimum monthly income required to open a bank account in the UAE, it said.

Migrants also often use cash transfer services because they are cheaper, said Mohammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, a researcher in labor migration and a coordinator at the Center for Migration Studies in Bangladesh.

“Migrants carefully consider every cent. Going to the bank and sending any form of remittances entails high fees,” he said.

Money transfer services in the UAE typically charge a flat fee of 25 dirham per transaction.

But cryptocurrencies, which allow “peer-to-peer” transfers between users online without any intermediaries such as banks or financial authorities, can be better value still.

Migrants can buy crypto using credit cards or crypto exchange offices and then transfer it instantly to their families’ digital wallets. Their relatives will then have to convert the crypto to the local currency.

Transfer costs usually range from free to 0.5 percent depending on the app used and the country coins are being sent to. There is also typically a charge for conversion in or out of local currencies, though some services charge as little as one cent.

Volatile market

As crypto services in the Gulf cash in, banks and other financial institutions are also trying to harness tech developments to make it easier and cheaper for migrant workers to send remittances home.

The UAE’s central bank has announced a “Digital Dirham” currency which it says will help ease cross-border payments and improve financial inclusion.

In March, it signed an agreement with India’s reserve bank to pilot a shared infrastructure to facilitate cross-border transactions of national digital currencies for remittances and trade.

The Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group, a UAE industry body for the money transfer industry, said in its 2022 annual report that its members are also increasingly offering mobile and digital payments in response to demand.

But some migrants who held cash in crypto say they are looking for less risky options.

Ahmed Abdel Fattah, an Egyptian migrant in the UAE, used to invest and send remittances in crypto, but he started to lose faith in digital assets after the 2022 market crash.

“I lost more than half of my investments,” said Abdel Fattah, a driver.

“It is a very volatile market. That is why I stopped investing in crypto and I am now thinking about other options.”

Howson said that take-up of cryptocurrencies and blockchain services will be limited where better, safer options exist.

“Crypto works for migrants, until it doesn’t,” he said.

“Blockchains are useful when you don’t trust political and financial institutions ... (but) no one wants to be held accountable when things go wrong.”


Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office

Updated 4 sec ago
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Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office

  • About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its ‘Iron Wall’ operation
  • In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank
GENEVA: There has been an increase in killings of and attacks against Palestinians by settlers and security forces in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
“Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its “Iron Wall” operation.
It is contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of the West Bank, in violation of international law, the OHCHR said.
In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank.
Since January there have been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties, which is a 13 percent increase on the same period last year, OHCHR said.
At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Fifty-three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and in Israel in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes, the office added.

One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished, says UN Palestinian refugee agency

Updated 6 min 29 sec ago
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One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished, says UN Palestinian refugee agency

GENEVA: One in ten children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza is malnourished, UNRWA said on Tuesday.
"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.


Israel military says striking Hezbollah targets in east Lebanon

Updated 34 min 29 sec ago
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Israel military says striking Hezbollah targets in east Lebanon

  • Israel's military said: “Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Beqaa, Lebanon”

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it was striking targets belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.
“Moments ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets... began numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Beqaa, Lebanon,” it said in a statement.
“The military compounds that were struck were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization for training and exercising terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against (Israeli) troops and the State of Israel,” it added.
The statement said an Israeli military operation in September 2024 had “eliminated” Radwan force commanders in Beirut and southern Lebanon, but that “since then the unit has been operating to reestablish its capabilities.”
“The storage of weapons and the activities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization at these sites constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and constitute a future threat to the State of Israel,” it added.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war that left the group severely weakened.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.


Drone attack shuts Iraq oil field run by US company

Updated 15 July 2025
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Drone attack shuts Iraq oil field run by US company

  • The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit
  • Strike called ‘an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure’

IRBIL, Iraq: A drone strike forced a US company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region Tuesday, amid a wave of similar attacks targeting the region’s energy infrastructure.

The Kurdistan natural resources ministry said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling the strike “an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure.”

The attack followed a similar drone strike a day earlier in neighboring Irbil province.

HKN Energy, the US company, said Tuesday’s blast occurred at about 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) at one of its production facilities in the Sarsang field.

“Operations at the affected facility have been suspended until the site is secured,” it said in a statement.

A fire broke out following the explosion, which did not cause any casualties.

Emergency response teams have contained the blaze, the company said later in an update.

In the past few weeks, there has been a spate of drone and rocket attacks mostly affecting Kurdistan.

Long plagued by conflict, Iraq has frequently experienced such attacks, often linked to regional proxy struggles.

The explosion in Sarsang field occurred a day after three explosive-laden drone attacks were reported in Kurdistan, with one drone shot down near Irbil airport, which hosts US troops, and another two hitting the Khurmala oil field causing material damage.

There has been no claim of responsibility for those attacks.

But, on July 3, the Kurdistan authorities said a drone was downed near Irbil airport, blaming the Hashed Al-Shaabi – a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries now integrated into the regular armed forces.

The federal government in Baghdad rejected the accusation.

The latest attacks come at a time of heightened tension between Baghdad and Irbil over oil exports, with a major pipeline through Turkiye shut since 2023 over legal disputes and technical issues.

In May, Iraq’s federal authorities filed a complaint against the autonomous Kurdistan region for signing gas contracts with two US companies, including HKN Energy.


Syria defense minister announces ceasefire in Druze-majority Sweida

Updated 19 min 23 sec ago
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Syria defense minister announces ceasefire in Druze-majority Sweida

  • A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city of Sweida in a bid to halt the violence
  • Syrian troops had begun moving toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village

DAMASCUS: Syria’s defense minister announced a ceasefire in the Druze-majority city of Sweida on Tuesday after government forces entered the city to end deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.

“To all units operating within the city of Sweida, we declare a complete ceasefire after an agreement with the city’s notables and dignitaries,” Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra posted on X. Clashes had erupted between government forces and Druze fighters after contradictory statements from Druze religious leaders, with most urging fighters to lay down their arms.
Syrian government forces entered the majority Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, aiming to end clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed nearly 100 people.

The southern city had been under the control of armed factions from the Druze minority, whose religious leaders said they had approved the deployment of Damascus’s troops and called on fighters to hand over their weapons.

A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city in a bid to halt the violence, which erupted at the weekend and has since spread across Sweida governorate.

Government forces said they intervened to separate the two sides but ended up taking control of several Druze areas around Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.

Military columns were seen advancing toward Sweida on Tuesday morning, with heavy artillery deployed nearby.

The defense ministry said later that they had entered the city, and urged people to “stay home and report any movements of outlaw groups.”

An AFP correspondent heard explosions and gunshots as soldiers moved into Sweida.

Troops had begun heading toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village, with one Druze faction saying talks were underway with the Damascus government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported 99 people killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday — 60 Druze, including four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.

The defense ministry reported 18 deaths among the ranks of the armed forces.

While Druze religious authorities had called on Monday evening for a ceasefire and said they didn’t oppose the central government, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, opposed the arrival of the security forces and called for “international protection.”

Israel, which has attempted to portray itself as a protector of the Druze in Syria and sees them as potential allies, bombed several Syrian tanks on Monday.

The strikes were “a clear warning to the Syrian regime – we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country has its own Druze population.

The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Syria’s pre-war Druze population was estimated at around 700,000, many of them concentrated in Sweida province.

The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Following deadly clashes with government forces in April and May, local and religious leaders reached an agreement with Damascus under which Druze fighters had been providing security in the province.

“We lived in a state of extreme terror – the shells were falling randomly,” said Abu Taym, a 51-year-old father.

Amal, a 46-year-old woman, said: “We fear a repeat of the coastal scenario,” referring to massacres in March of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians in northwest Syria, where groups affiliated with the government were blamed for most of the killings.

“We are not against the state, but we are against surrendering our weapons without a state that treats everyone the same,” she added.

In a post on X, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra urged his troops to “protect your fellow citizens” from “outlaw gangs,” and to “restore stability to Sweida.”

The violence began on Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.

The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslims, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations with the Druze.

Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two sides.