By Deputy Editor, Surabhi Chhikara
What do the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 1970 oil boom and the recent release of the film Aadujeevitham (Goat Life) have in common? They all relate to the Gulf countries and more precisely to the kafala system- a legal framework that has brought both wealth and tears to migrant labourers in the Middle East.
The kafala, or sponsorship, system defines the relationship between foreign workers and their local sponsor, or kafeel, who is usually their employer. It has been used in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Under this, the state gives local individuals or companies sponsorship permits to employ foreign labourers, often regulated by internal ministries rather than labour law. The sponsor covers travel expenses and provides housing. Sponsors sometimes also use private recruitment agencies to find foreign workers and bring them to the host country.
Loose regulation leaves the workers vulnerable to exploitation and denies them rights like the ability to enter a labour dispute process or join a union. Furthermore, because workers’ employment and residency visas are linked and only sponsors can renew or terminate them, the system allows private citizens control over workers’ legal statuses, creating a potentially exploitative power imbalance.
Workers also face numerous other abuses under the kafala system, like:
- Restricted movement and communications- Confiscation of passports, visas, and phones, and confinement of domestic workers to their homes.
- Debt bondage- Although most host countries require employers to pay recruitment fees, these often get passed on to workers, who take out loans to pay them or become indebted to the recruiter. Employers sometimes withhold workers’ wages as punishment.
- Forced labour- Deception or coercion by recruiters such as contract substitution constitutes a common tactic in which workers unwittingly accept poor wages and working conditions by signing multiple contracts, some in languages they don’t understand.
Beginning in the early 20th century the kafala system expanded in the 1950s, as nouveau riche Gulf countries sought foreign labourers to work on large-scale infrastructure projects post the oil boom. Given their relatively small populations, they needed additional temporary workers during booming growth who could return home when the demand weakened without any harm to local firms. Initially, the system favoured Arab workers from nearby countries, however, after 1970, preference turned to workers, especially from South Asia and Africa, for cheaper labour. Today, they often take jobs that nationals find undesirable, such as construction, domestic work, or services. They also earn less than locals.
Critics have called the system “modern slavery,” saying mistreatment arises from the sponsor-worker power imbalance and sponsors’ legal impunity. Moreover, the Middle East lags behind other regions in ratifying international agreements that protect workers, such as the ILO’s Domestic Workers Convention, which commits signatories to set a minimum wage, eliminate forced labour, and ensure decent working conditions.
Even countries that provide many kafala workers such as Indonesia, Kenya, and Nepal often barred workers from emigrating to GCC states. However, analysts worry that such efforts have the unintended effect of boosting human smuggling as desperate workers seek other ways to travel to the region, often because of higher pay than in their home countries. Many workers then send remittances home which the World Bank notes can help alleviate poverty in low- and middle-income countries.
Given international scrutiny, most host countries have begun implementing reforms- for instance, in Qatar, where migrant workers laboured in temperatures above 38°C to construct roads, hotels, and stadiums for the World Cup, resulting in deaths of thousands of migrant workers over the past decade. Criticism led Doha to implement additional heat protections for workers and also commit to dismantling the system itself.
Sources:
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system
Picture credit:
Arthashastra 