How do temporary migrants cope with social inequality in the illiberal host states of the Global South? Mainstream scholarly work on labour migration in the Gulf has historically featured the structural violence, racialized hierarchy, and social inequality imposed on temporary migrants typically framing, migrants in the Gulf as ‘powerless’ and ‘rule-taker victims. Yet, scholars tend to overlook the diverse coping (or mobility) route strategies of temporary migrants in this geographic location. Using the case of temporary Filipino migrants, one of the largest Gulf-based ethnic minority groups in the United Arab Emirates, I argue that temporary migrants have employed diverse coping mobility strategies via inter-regional transit, intra-regional, and irregular routes to diminish social inequality. These strategies act as tools to capitalise on their Gulf labour market experience and manipulate complex migration systems to achieve their long-term goals (i.e., acquiring Western citizenship). To examine temporary migrants’ coping mobility behaviours, I have employed semi-structured interviews with 20 Filipino migrants and content analysis of newspapers. This study adds to the theoretical and empirical discussions on racial capitalism, migration, and Gulf exceptionalism by nuancing migrant victimisation narratives in South-South migration and shifting the perspective of migrants as powerless recipients to active, mobile agents.