UPDATES TO KAFALA
The definitive place to get the latest updates on Kafala.
November 26, 2018 | English
United Arab Emirates: A contractor involved in building the marquee stadium for Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup did not pay its workers, leaving them stranded thousands of miles from home, according to a report released Wednesday.
Mercury MENA, an engineering and plumbing firm, owes thousands of dollars of wages to workers from countries where many live on less than $2 a day, Amnesty International said. Those employees helped build projects including Qatar’s Lusail Stadium, which will host the opening and closing matches of the soccer tournament.
November 1, 2018 | English
After decades of marginalization, many of Lebanon’s approximately 250,000 domestic workers are demanding an end to their exploitation and fighting back against racism. At the conference “Connecting Resistances – Emancipatory Activism in West Asia, North Africa and Germany”, two activists reported on the alliances they are building and how they managed to find their voices. By Anna-Theresa Bachmann.
October 24, 2018 | English
Many African and Asian countries have banned the recruitment of domestic workers for countries in the Middle East who subscribe to the “kafala” system.
October 11, 2018 | English
Under the system, a migrant worker’s immigration and legal residency status is tied to an individual sponsor (kafeel) through a contract period during which workers cannot resign from their jobs, transfer employment or leave the country without first obtaining written permission from their employers.
September 17, 2018 | English
In February 2018, a house maid from the Philippines was found dead in a freezer in Kuwait. This horrific case highlights once again the terrible conditions of life facing some of the thousands of domestic migrants workers in the Gulf.
September 6, 2018 | English
(Beirut) – The bill that Qatar’s emir signed on September 4, 2018 now allows foreign workers the right to leave the country but excludes several key groups of workers and falls short of Qatar’s reform pledges over the last year, Human Rights Watch said today. Qatar, which is hosting the 2022 Football World Cup and employing thousands of extra migrant workers to build infrastructure for the tournament, has come under increased scrutiny of its treatment of foreign workers since winning the bid.
September 2, 2018 | French
Plus de 250.000 travailleuses domestiques immigrées sont employées dans les foyers, liées à leurs employeurs par un système de parrainage qui ne leur garantit aucun droit.
August 6, 2018 | English
The Kuwaiti beauty blogger Sondos Alqattan recently unleashed a storm of criticism after saying that Filipino domestic workers in the Persian Gulf region should not have the right to take a day off or hold on to their own passports. Activists the world over were quick to condemn her remarks, and prominent cosmetic companies have stopped working with her.
August 4, 2018 | English
The kafala has become increasingly costly and more difficult to sustain over time. Administrative challenges and labour market inefficiencies have increased the economic costs of the kafala, while non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international media have exposed systemic abuse, hurting the Gulf states’ reputations.
July 16, 2018 | English
BEIRUT (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Black women working in Lebanon routinely face racism, sexism and discrimination stemming from a “dehumanizing” sponsorship system, rights groups said on Monday, after a Kenyan migrant worker who suffered a mob attack was deported.