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Global Governance and Labour Migration in the GCC

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Global Governance and Muslim Organizations

Part of the book series: International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

Abstract

This chapter will focus upon labour migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, since the massive incomes to these countries, particularly from the oil price increase in the 1970s, resulted in one of the great migration stories of the twentieth century. Still significant, today labour migration to the GCC accounts for over 10 per cent of all migrants globally. The GCC states are also the site of a great deal of interactions with global organizations, international institutions, NGOs and individual activists around human rights and labour rights that have led to the beginnings of reforms and changes in practices. It will be argued that global governance of migration is an unachievable ambition, but one that does not deter various actors from pursuing.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This was an initiative launched by 11 labour-sending countries of Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) and includes eight destination countries (Bahrain, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).

  2. 2.

    Domestic workers include foreign female live-in housemaids, drivers, gardeners and others. Just over 50 per cent of domestic workers in the GCC are female, primarily from South and South East Asia (ILO, 2015).

  3. 3.

    Since the time of writing, the ILO, satisfied with the Qatari reforms and promises of future reforms, withdrew the complaint.

  4. 4.

    As of November 2016, 49 states had ratified the Convention that included Arab states such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Syria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar

    Ray Jureidini

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  1. Ray Jureidini
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Leslie A. Pal

  2. College of Islamic Studies Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar

    M. Evren Tok

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Jureidini, R. (2019). Global Governance and Labour Migration in the GCC. In: Pal, L.A., Tok, M.E. (eds) Global Governance and Muslim Organizations. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92561-5_14

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