Reforming the Kafala System
After much global scrutiny and public pressure over the past two decades, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States have made major policy reforms to the kafala system. Kafala, in its most current manifestation, can be described as a system whereby migrant workers are legally sponsored by a kafeel, a local citizen or company for labour purposes, for a specified contract that can be terminated when the employer/sponsor sees fit. This ultimately ties a worker’s legal status to their employer and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. To examine the impact of these reforms of the kafala system, this brief explores its effects on workers recently recruited to work in the Gulf. An analysis of the gap between the policy reforms implemented over the past decade and worker experiences illustrates significant shortcomings in the current GCC kafala systems.