Abstract
The Arab-Gulf states continue to maintain their infamous status over decades, concerning the pervasive mistreatment of the migrant workers significant in their local populations. Critics largely blame the Islamic kafala custom, widely practiced in the region despite its unofficial nature. The sponsorship system essentially renders the migrant to be dependent entirely on the citizen-employer’s “protection”. This chapter explores the kafala in its historical and geographical application to understand the specific implication of its usage in the Gulf region. It briefly narrates how the migrants in the region experience the kafala and then explores the varied versions of the kafala for different purposes, concluding that the Gulf states have institutionalized the tradition for the latitude it permits them to control the foreigner.
Al Hazeem Manpower, a recruitment agency in Bahrain, ran an online competition during the Ramadan via social media to “win a domestic worker”. The government suspended the company’s license on charges of suspected human trafficking. Later, its Bahraini owner contended that they used “wrong wording” for the campaign and that they made corrections. On its Facebook page, the company markets domestic services along with “two-year runaway insurance”. Some packages also offer the opportunity to “return the maid” if she becomes ill. (‘Bahraini agency faces investigation over ‘win a worker’ competition’, Arab News, 18 April, 2017.)
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- 1.
The chapter will use these terms for the region interchangeably—the Arab-Gulf/the Gulf states/the GCC.
- 2.
Doctoral thesis (Political Science, 2016) (Institut d’études politiques de Paris, France ) titled, The expediency of the contemporary guest worker migration policies that curb mobility: The Arab-Gulf countries and the Indian migrants.
- 3.
In 2011, an interior ministry official in Qatar noted that ‘the “rate” of visas for some nationalities had soared to as much as QR60,000 ($16,468)’- (2011, October 20) Hefty fine for ‘free visa’ trafficker in Qatar. Gulf News.
- 4.
Shari’a (or the Divine law) is a compilation derived through the interpretation of two main sources, the text of the Quran and the Sunna (broadly, the life and practices of the Prophet ). All works of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), which includes the fatwa (the rulings of jurists) in addition to the interpretation of the Shari’a , contain a chapter on kafala. The main Sunni madhhabs or schools of fiqh include Shafi, Maliki, Hanafi and Hanbali. Two Shia schools are Ja’fari and Zaidi.
- 5.
The 1926 Slavery Convention defined Slavery as ‘the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised’. And, Unfree labor is ‘labour that is not able to bargain at its will over wages and conditions of work, and which cannot legally withdraw from contract, implied or specific’ (e.g., indentured labour).
- 6.
Islam allegedly forbids adoption (tabanni), broadly for concerns regarding the transfer of patrilineal lineage and inheritance and that it tampers with the divinely-derived biological relationship.
- 7.
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (1993) provides the framework for inter-country adoptions. Albania and Turkey are the only countries with significant Muslim populations that are party to this convention. Iran , Mauritania, and Egypt prohibit international Kafala.
- 8.
European Court of Human Rights, Harroundi v. France: “Refusal of permission to adopt a child in kafala foster care did not violate respect for family life”, Press release of the judgement, 04.10.12.
- 9.
India has the second-largest Muslim population after Indonesia in the world. Prior to 2014, because of personal law considerations, individuals of non-Hindu communities (e.g. Muslims and Christians ) could only act as guardians or foster parents, which restricted the child’s right to inherit (‘India Finally Allows Minorities to Adopt Children With Full Rights’, The TIME, 21 February, 2014).
- 10.
Dock labor typically composed of unskilled workers from the weakest segments of society and migrants.
- 11.
‘A New Face for the Exploitation of Syrian Workers in Lebanon?’, http://english.al-akhbar.com, February 20, 2015, accessed May 5, 2017.
- 12.
For tourism, business visit, shopping, owner of real estate or tenant in Lebanon, study, transit, medical treatment, or visa application at a foreign embassy.
- 13.
‘Why Jordan’s plan to integrate Syrian refugees into workforce has faltered’, http://www.al-monitor.com, July 5, 2016: accessed May 5, 2017.
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Kanchana, R. (2018). Is the Kafala Tradition to Blame for the Exploitative Work Conditions in the Arab-Gulf Countries?. In: Chowdhury, M., Irudaya Rajan, S. (eds) South Asian Migration in the Gulf. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71821-7_4
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