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The kafala system or kefala system (Arabic: نظام الكفالة niẓām al-kafāla, lit. ' sponsorship system ' ) is a system in the Middle East that involves binding migrant workers to a specific employer throughout the period of their residence in a country.
The Kafala system is not legally binding in Lebanon because recruiters cannot act as a sponsor. [16] Instead the system is made up of a number for administrative regulations, customary practices and legal requirements which bind the worker to the recruiter temporarily. [17]. Once in Lebanon, the migrant domestic worker is assigned an employer ...
After the abolition of slavery, poor migrant workers were employed under the Kafala system, which have been compared to slavery. [26] The kafala system is practiced in Kuwait. The main legal source for the kafala system in Kuwait is the 1959 Aliens’ Residence Law and its implementing regulations.
According to a 2008 Human Rights Watch report, [80] under the kafala system in Saudi Arabia, "an employer assumes responsibility for a hired migrant worker and must grant explicit permission before the worker can enter Saudi Arabia, transfer employment, or leave the country. The kafala system gives the employer immense control over the worker."
In the United Arab Emirates, the labor previously performed by slaves were now performed by poor migrant workers employed under the Kafala system, which has been compared to slavery. [43] The Kafala laborers often came from Africa and Asia, just as the majority of the former slaves.
However, the Kafala system has been criticized for creating a power imbalance favoring local employers over migrant workers, exposing the latter to risks of human trafficking and forced labor. In response to international labor standards, Qatar officially announced the abolition of the sponsorship system (Kafala) on December 12, 2016. This ...
Slavery ended earlier in Bahrain than in any other Gulf state, with the exception of Iran and Iraq. Many members of the Afro-Arabian minority are descendants of the former slaves. Slavery of people from Africa and East Asia was succeeded by the modern Kafala system of poor workers from the same region were slaves had previously been imported.
In 2011, Oman reportedly informed the United Nations Human Rights Council that alternatives to the kafala system were being considered. [43] However, the sponsorship system still remains in place today. [43] Legislative amendments to the Omani labor laws were under consideration in late 2016.