The Global Slavery Index 2023

Regional: Arab States (Part 5)

​Impact of COVID-19 
The situation worsened for many migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, with reports of wage theft in the construction, hospitality, and manufacturing sectors in Gulf countries, largely driven by order cancellations, weakened labour protections (allowing employers to reduce wages), and dismissal or repatriation of workers without pay. Migrants from countries in Asia and Africa are often recruited to work in these sectors by a complex network of local brokers, recruitment agents, friends, and relatives. They may receive limited or inaccurate information about the nature of the work and be required to pay substantial recruitment fees to migrate through informal and formal channels, thereby increasing their risk of debt-bondage and exploitation in the destination. During the pandemic, some migrants reportedly defaulted on loan repayments due to wage theft and were subsequently arrested in the UAE, while several migrant workers in Qatar were deported before receiving their wages. Construction workers were physically abused after requesting their unpaid salaries in Saudi Arabia, where the government also allowed a temporary 40 per cent pay reduction in the private sector. Lockdowns intensified social isolation and vulnerability among domestic workers in private households and compounded difficulties in sending remittances home. Some domestic workers in Lebanon were abandoned outside their consulates by employers who said they can no longer afford to pay them.
 
Forms of tied visa programs operate in several other countries globally, and these systems similarly increase migrant workers’ vulnerability to exploitation. However, the various iterations of the kafala system involve some of the most restrictive conditions and are present in countries which have among the highest concentrations of migrant workers in the world. Over the past decade, countries that uphold kafala have faced significant criticism due to the pervasive abuse of migrant workers under the system, with major international events such as the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup and Dubai World Expo 2020 drawing global attention to the issue. Several countries have instituted reforms, some in response to mounting international pressure, yet no country has abolished kafala entirely, with vestiges of the system undermining reform efforts. 
 
Qatar represents one example in which preparations for the FIFA World Cup since 2010 have drawn attention to grave migrant worker abuses in the construction, hotel, and security sectors. Amid mounting criticism in 2017, Qatar agreed to undertake a technical cooperation program with the ILO, seeking to align laws and practices with international labour standards. Promisingly, in 2020 Qatar ceased requiring exit permits for workers excluded from the scope of the labour law, including migrant domestic workers, expanding upon a similar 2018 amendment.Qatar also removed No- Objection Certificate (NOC) requirements, allowing workers to change jobs without permission from their employer under certain conditions. However, these positive reforms have been undermined by gaps in implementation and protections. In practice, the system is not only difficult for migrant workers to navigate, but many are unaware of their right to leave, and even if they are they still face the threat of retaliation from their employers who may file false allegations of theft or absconding. As reports of abuse persisted in the lead-up to the World Cup, human rights organisations continued to call for the government to enforce reforms and for FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (the body responsible for delivering the event) to strengthen due diligence and monitoring, as well as establish a scheme to remediate harms caused. While global attention was brought to the issue following the games, it has not been followed by any meaningful commitment or action by FIFA and the Qatari government, with impacted migrant workers still struggling to access compensation.
 
Several other countries have implemented limited reforms to increase job mobility in recent years. In 2021, the government of Oman removed its NOC requirement, allowing workers to transfer jobs without their employer’s permission upon completion of their contract. Saudi Arabia’s 2021 Labour Reform Initiative similarly allows workers to change jobs or leave the country without employer consent;however, workers must complete one year of their contract and migrant domestic workers, among others, are excluded from this protection. Under 2016 reforms allowing workers to transfer jobs in the UAE, workers must complete their contract or provide advance notice to avoid an employment ban, and may be required to compensate their employer. As in Qatar, absconding is punishable in each of these countries and places migrant workers at risk of arrest or deportation for leaving abusive workplaces. 
 
Even in Bahrain, which previously had the most sweeping reforms to the kafala system, gaps in protections persisted.69 In 2017, the government introduced the Flexi-Permit, allowing migrant workers to freely change jobs and leave the country without facing possible charges of absconding. This granted greater freedom than had ever been seen under the kafala system, yet the steep price of the permit deterred those eligible from self- sponsoring and permit-holders lacked defined labour protections under the law. Rather than address these shortcomings in line with civil society recommendations, Bahrain abandoned the system entirely in October 2022, replacing it with a program that allows workers to self-sponsor within designated professions. Under the new system, workers must obtain a vocational work permit through a certified registration centre, effectively privatising the process. While the reforms purport to strengthen protections for migrants, those with irregular status from October 2022 are not eligible for the permit (unlike the Flexi-Permit system). Further, workers must still bear the cost of the permit and can no longer obtain commercial registration. The reforms were passed amid pressure from the business community, which was driven by fears that freelance migrant workers posed a threat to local businesses, and due to a government push to nationalise their workforce in a bid to move away from reliance on migrant workers.
 
Several countries in the region still grapple with strong opposition to comprehensive reforms due to perceived economic benefits of the kafala system and entrenched discriminatory attitudes towards foreign workers. In 2020, prior to the installation of a new government in Lebanon, a new standard unified contract was proposed to allow migrant workers to change employers after one month’s notice, among other protections. However, the contract was swiftly struck down by the Shura Council, Lebanon’s highest administrative court, after the Syndicate of Owners of Recruitment Agencies in Lebanon claimed that the contract violated the labour law and would adversely affect domestic worker recruitment, a lucrative trade in Lebanon.

The government of Jordan has taken the least action to reform the kafala system. Jordan currently maintains all elements of the kafala system, whereby migrant workers typically cannot enter or exit the country or transfer jobs without written employer consent. While the government has made some attempts to curb illegal practices of unscrupulous recruitment agents and improve protections, there is a lack of capacity and will to enforce the regulations. 
 
Walk Free 2023. Global Slavery Index 2023. Minderoo Foundation Ltd. Australia.