Does this video show Egyptians protesting in UAE after residency permit revocations? Fact Check
Claim: A video allegedly shows Egyptians protesting in UAE after some Egyptian citizens had their residency permits revoked.
Conclusion: The claim is false. The video does not show Egyptians protesting in the UAE over residency permit revocations. It shows Egyptians celebrating after Egypt defeated Australia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32. While some Egyptian residents reportedly had their residency permits revoked, these cases are individual incidents and do not relate to the gathering shown in the video.
Rating: False 
Several social media users have claimed that Egyptians have taken to the streets of Dubai, protesting because their residency permits were unexpectedly revoked. Verified X user ‘MhmdSalm90801’ shared such a post which allegedly showcased a moment of the protest. Attached to the post is a 1 minute 19 second video which the user claims showcases how the police in the UAE were dispersing the crowd.
The post gained over 1.5 million views and can be seen below –
الشرطة. في. الإمارات. تفرق. مظاهرة. للجالية. المصرية. في. دبي. احتجاج. علي. الغاء. اقامات. بعض. المصرين. واعتبارهم. من. الدرجة الثالثة. في رفع.قيمة. إصدار. الاقامات 100%100
كعمالة مهمشة ٠٠٠ pic.twitter.com/EFImiQ8nEL— محمد سالم بن. يزيد (@MhmdSalm90801) August 17, 2026
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be false. The video does not depict Egyptians protesting in the UAE over cancelled residency permits. Instead, it shows Egyptians celebrating Egypt’s victory over Australia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32. Although some Egyptian residents reportedly faced residency permit cancellations, these were separate individual cases and had no connection to the gathering shown in the video.
Details:
Firstly, we conducted a web search with the phrase “UAE revokes Egyptian residency permits” to learn about the context.
According to a report by Azer News, several “Egyptians have said their permits were unexpectedly revoked, in some cases while they were outside the UAE, leaving them unable to return to their jobs.” The report noted that this raised concerns “about an alleged new requirement for a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) for Egyptian workers seeking employment or changing jobs in the UAE. “ Nonetheless, “no official change to UAE residency regulations specifically affecting Egyptian nationals has been announced.”
Another report by Ahram Online states that “Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed reports of mass dismissals of Egyptian workers in the UAE, saying that cases circulating on social media are individual incidents and that most of them are linked to violations of residency regulations.…”
Following this, we conducted a web search on various keyframes of the video to learn about the origin. The search took us to an Instagram reel uploaded by ‘sport_4all’ on 4 July, 2026 with the caption (translated into English) : “Egyptian joy in the streets of Dubai after the Egyptian national team qualified for the round of 16 of the World Cup”. Attached to the post is a video which showcases similar visuals that are shown in the claim, proving that it is not a protest video.
View this post on Instagram
DigitEYE India confirmed this by observing the similarities of the street and specific buildings like “Asmak Al Siha Sea Food” and “Arkan Business Center”. View the comparison of the two videos below –
The search results took us to another reel uploaded by user ‘arabawyoffical” in collaboration with ‘alsiha.seafood.restaurant’. The post was uploaded on 4 July, 2026 and is captioned : “The joy of Egyptian expats at Egypt’s qualification for the round of 16 in the World Cup” The visuals of this with the same buildings match those of the claim, proving that this was from a celebration and not a protest in UAE.
View this post on Instagram
Egypt beat Australia 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on July 3, 2026, during the FIFA World Cup Round of 32. A report by Khaleej Times has written about the celebrations in UAE by the Egyptian fans after Egypt’s win over Australia. Police vehicles were seen in multiple areas but the report writes that “the presence of the authorities was primarily to regulate traffic and ensure that festivities didn’t get out of hand.”
Thus, the claim is false.
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