Kafala, the controversial sponsored employment system that exploits workers | Used in Middle Eastern countries

The kafala system (the Arabic word means guarantee) which was promoted with the idea of ​​ensuring an abundant supply of cheap labor during an era of economic boom in different countries and with the motto of benefiting local businesses and promoting Development has become increasingly controversial over reports of abuse cases.

“The kafala or sponsorship system binds migrant workers to their employers,” he said. BBC Mundo May Romanos, Amnesty International (AI) researcher on migrant rights in the Gulf region.

Romanos is one of the authors of a 2019 IA report on the kafala system in Lebanon and indicated that with this device “workers cannot enter the country or obtain a visa unless they have this sponsorship “, while adding that” the employer can cancel the residence permit at any time and leave the worker in an irregular situation under penalty of being expelled.

“The worker cannot change jobs or leave the country without his employer’s permission, so he finds himself trapped in a cycle of abuse”, precise. Despite the operating conditions, workers often accept jobs under the kafala system because the pay offered is better than what they would get in their own country, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Many workers send their wages home. In 2019, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were among the top 10 countries with the most remittances.

For the Romans, the kafala is a complex system that does not change just by abolishing a few laws: “There must be a change of culture in these countries, and the culture of impunity must end. Employers suffer no consequences for their abuse. , neither in Qatar nor in the rest of the region. “

And he sums it up: “The kafala system is definitely a form of modern slavery and we believe it should be abolished. It is a system that must be replaced by a system that protects migrant workers from abuse and guarantees their human rights. “

Domestic workers

Amnesty International’s 2019 report focuses on the case of domestic workers, where it collects the testimony of Mary, an Ethiopian worker who traveled to Lebanon, where she claimed to have suffered physical and verbal abuse.

“I was with my employers without leaving for a year, I worked 18 hours a day. I cried every day and tried to end my life three times. Their home was my prison.Marie recounted.

Most of the workers trapped in the kafala system are women and come from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and, in many cases, Africa. “Many of them are mothers who left their children in their country and traveled with the idea of ​​earning money for the education and food of their children,” said Romanos.

In addition, he noted that many migrant workers, like Mary, work up to 18 hours a day without any days off per week. “The workload is excruciating and many report cases of physical violence not only from their employers but also from the minors they care for,” he said.

And he revealed, “We spoke with a lot of these women who were in shelters in Lebanon and Qatar. They were trapped because the employers always had their passports nor did they have the money to return to their country and find their children. Many of them didn’t even get their wages so they were working for nothing. “

A 2008 Human Rights Watch study reported that migrant domestic workers in Lebanon were dying at a rate of more than one per week, due to suicides or failed escape attempts.

The case of Athénkosi Dyonta

Athenkosi Dyonta, a 30-year-old barista, worked at a cafe in George Town, a popular vacation spot in his native South Africa, where he shared his “latte art”, creations made with milk on top. café, with baristas from around the world in a Facebook group.

It was there that a woman contacted him with a job offer in Oman. In addition to a living wage, they offered her free accommodation, food and transportation. The woman said she would take care of her visa, while Ahenkosi would only have to pay for a plane ticket, a medical exam and a covid-19 test.

“I thought that when he came back after about a year, we would buy a house and send our children to better schools,” recalls his girlfriend Pheliswa Feni, 28, with whom he has two children.

The couple borrowed money for plane tickets from Athenkosi, who traveled to Oman soon after. Upon arriving in the Arab country, the barista was driven from the capital, Muscat, to a town called Ibra, where he was transferred to his new home. “It was a dirty place, a small room, with just a mattress and boxes,” Athenkosi told the BBC’s The Comb podcast.

The surprise was only the beginning of a period of enormous anguish for the young man, who soon learned that his “dream job” did not exist. The young She continued to work 12 to 14 hours a day cleaning the cafes.

When he didn’t have to work, he was forced to stay locked in his room. The food was terrible and they didn’t pay for it. “He only ate bread and milk, sometimes a muffin with an egg. He didn’t get any wages, he just worked,” he said.

What the young man did not know was that he had signed a sponsorship agreement that gives citizens and private companies near absolute control over the employment and immigration status of foreign workers.

Like Marie, Athenkosi attempted suicide. The young barista eventually made it back to South Africa, after his girlfriend organized a fundraising campaign. The employer did not let him go until he received approximately $ 1,500 for “breach of contract and costs of food and accommodation.”

The case of Qatar

Qatar is among the countries that have recently introduced reforms to the kafala system in the face of international pressure and because it was the center of attention ahead of the 2022 World Cup. The country has around two million migrant workers, who make up 95% of its workforce, according to AI.

“Qatar now allows migrant workers to change jobs and leave the country without permission from their employers, but in practice this remains difficult. In addition, the employer always has the power to cancel the residence permit at any time. If the worker quits their job due to abuse, they can be charged with running away and risk being arrested and deported.“Ramos reported.

For its part, the International Labor Organization (ILO) called the reform of the kafala system in Qatar a “historic change” and argued that the country “has made major changes to its labor system, ending to the requirement that migrant workers obtain permission from their employer to change jobs “and stressed that” the country has become the first in the region to adopt a non-discriminatory minimum wage “.

This new law, coupled with the prior abolition of the requirement for an employer permit to leave the country, effectively dismantles the kafala sponsorship system and ushers in an era in Qatar’s labor market.