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2021 saw plenty of reforms but implementation remains poor. With the pandemic continuing to impact the economy and travel, the rights of migrant workers continue to be in jeopardy.

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** For migrant workers in the GCC, decades of marginalisation and exclusion from welfare policies made their situation more precarious during the pandemic. This report, based on data collected in the first few months of the pandemic, sheds light on some of the key concerns and patterns of violation of rights.
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Our Latest Reports
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Saudi private schools exploit migrant women on dependent visas ([link removed])

Struggling to find jobs amid Saudisation, migrant women on dependent visas work off-the-books for private schools in conditions ripe for exploitation

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]المدارس-الخاصة-في-السعودية-تستغل-المه/)

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Religious and caste affiliations don’t give space for fight for labour rights in the GCC (interview) ([link removed])

A Q&A with the author of Undocumented: Stories of Indian Migrants in the Arab Gulf, Rejimon Kuttappan.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]نتماءات-الدينية-والطائفية-تطغى-عل/)

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From trafficking to sexual abuse, racial discrimination aggravates abuse of African women in Saudi ([link removed])

Domestic workers in Saudi Arabia share common stories of recruitment fraud, wage theft, and religious discrimination. While returned workers are self-organizing to support distressed compatriots abroad, severe protection gaps at origin and destination still need to be addressed.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]من-الإتجار-إلى-الاعتداء-الجنسي،-التمي/)

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Dropping Dead ([link removed])

Based on the deceased workers’ medical records, employment contracts, photographs, travel documents, and the testimonies from victims’ families, Migrant-Rights.org’s investigation reveals a grim picture of untimely and unexplained deaths.


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UAE labour reforms include flexible employment options, but details remain unclear ([link removed])

The UAE announced a series of reforms to its labour law, including flexible employment options, prohibitions against employee harassment, discrimination, and forced labour, as well as equal pay for equal work, among a number of other issues.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]الإصلاحات-العمالية-الإماراتية-تشمل-خ/)

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Protesting migrant workers in Bahrain’s O&G sector face abuse and threats | Migrant-Rights.org ([link removed])

In September 2021, thousands of migrant workers employed by Nasser S. Al Hajri Corporation W.L.L (NSH) staged a week-long protest over poor living and working conditions. Both police and company security forces responded to the workers with threats and overt violence.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Nepali women trafficked to UAE, sexually abused and exploited ([link removed])

More and more Nepali women like Krisha are being trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the promise of employment but end up being exploited by both the traffickers (agents) and bosse. Some of them are specifically trafficked for sex work.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]نيباليات-يُتاجر-بهن-في-الإمارات-ويتعر/)

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Job mobility in Qatar is still a mirage despite reforms; domestic workers most affected ([link removed])

A year after Qatar rolled out significant labour reforms, changing jobs remains a difficult process — and an expensive one, with employers demanding huge kickbacks from workers. Women migrants, particularly domestic workers, are the worst affected by these ambiguities.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]رغم-الإصلاحات،-التنقل-بين-الوظائف-لاي/)

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“We cried and begged” ([link removed]) [Audio story]

On 24 and 25 June 2021, Abu Dhabi authorities conducted midnight raids on several apartments housing African migrant workers . An estimated 800 workers, primarily from Uganda, Nigeria, and Cameroon, were rounded up – most in their bedclothes, some even naked – and put onto buses without explanation.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]بكينا-وتوسّلنا/)

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UAE turns a blind eye to rampant abuse of its visit visa; employer-pays model only on paper ([link removed])

Though technically legal under UAE law, Nepal’s government bans workers from travelling on visit visas for the purposes of employment. These migrants often end up paying extortionately high fees for non-existent jobs, with none of the legal protections formally recruited workers are entitled to.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]الإمارات-الطرف-عن-تفشي-إساءة-استغل/)

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Transportation Workers in Kuwait: At the wheel, thrown under the bus ([link removed])

Due to a virtually non-existent public transportation infrastructure, most people are dependent on private vehicles. And with the poor management and corruption that has infested the transportation industry, migrants working in the sector are the most affected.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]عمال-النقل-في-الكويت-خلف-المقود،-تحت-ال/)

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Over 80,000 undocumented migrants in Saudi arrested in recent raids ([link removed])

With thousands of migrants detained each week, overcrowded detention centres pose a massive Covid-19 hazard. The lack of transparent procedures and the inability for detained migrants to appeal deportation sentences heightens the risk of rights violations.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]القبض-على-أكثر-من-80000-مهاجر-غير-نظامي-ضمن/)

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Migrant workers suffer most in Kuwait’s extreme heat ([link removed])

A recent World Health Organisation report says heat exposure is already killing people in countries like Kuwait, where temperatures are reaching unprecedented levels, and that ‘migrant workers are a group that is particularly vulnerable to extreme temperatures.’

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]العمال-المهاجرون-أكثر-المتضررين-من-قي/)

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What happens when no one’s looking? ([link removed])

Malcolm Bidali reflects on the last 12 weeks of detention, intimidation, and being charged for a ‘crime’ of highlighting the plight of lower-income migrant workers like himself

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]ما-الذي-يحدث-في-غفلة-من-الجميع؟/)

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Project visas misused to bypass QVC regulations ([link removed])

Reports from Nepal reveal an increasing misuse of the project or short-term visas to bypass Qatar Visa Centre (QVC) procedures. Several civil society activists have raised concern over workers being duped with false contracts.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]سوء-استغلال-تأشيرات-المشاريع-لتجاوز-ل/)

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Qatar’s luxury hotels fall well short of protecting rights of migrant workers ([link removed])

Months to the World Cup 2022, the biggest, most profitable hotel brands in the world are failing to recognise their responsibility to prevent, mitigate and remedy labour rights abuses against migrant workers in their hotels. Guest post by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]فنادق-قطر-الفاخرة-تعجز-عن-حماية-حقوق-ال/)

Latest News

Kuwait officially lifts its ban on expats aged over 60 without a degree ([link removed])

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]الكويت-تلغي-الحظر-على-الأجانب-الذين-تج/)
UN draws attention to trafficking of Vietnamese women to Saudi ([link removed])

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]الأمم-المتحدة-تلفت-الانتباه-إلى-الإتج/)
Non-Kuwaiti government employees not paid end of service benefits ([link removed])

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]موظفو-الحكومة-غير-الكويتيين-محرومون-م/)
Bahrain implements the second stage of its Wage Protection System ([link removed])

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]البحرين-تطبق-المرحلة-الثانية-من-نظام-ح/)
Bahrain launches two new hotlines to report cases involving sponsors who charge migrant workers for job transfers and issues relating to human trafficking crimes ([link removed])

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]البحرين-تطلق-خطين-ساخنين-للابلاغ-عن-ا/)
Infographics & Campaigns

From Non-Payment To Destitution: The life cycle of wage theft in the GCC ([link removed])
Act against wage theft, ensure workers are not denied their dues ([link removed])
Abolish Absconding Charges ([link removed])
Videos & Webinars

What does abolishing Kafala mean? ([link removed])
UAE unlawfully detains hundreds of African migrant workers ([link removed])
Dropping Dead: Qatar’s death certificates for migrant workers are a template for denial ([link removed])
Country Highlights

Bahrain

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New Legislation:

Gradual implementation ([link removed]) of the "Wage Protection System" began on 1 May 2021. The final phase will begin on 1 January 2022 and will cover all labour law workers. Domestic workers are excluded from WPS, though they are among the most vulnerable to wage theft.

Residency laws were amended ([link removed]) to allow foreign workers to sponsor their parents and adult children on dependent visas., provided the worker earns at least BD 1000 (USD 2,651) per month.

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Critical Issues:

The labour inspectorate ([link removed]) remains widely inadequate in capacity and function to ensure minimum labour and safety standards and decent work.

Police are falsely accusing Afriican women of prostitution ([link removed]) , subjecting them to arbitrary arrest and deportation without due process.

In September, thousands of migrant workers working for government-contracted companies staged protests ([link removed]) against wage theft and other labour abuse, which remain rampant issues in the country.


Kuwait

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New Legislation:

The government has reversed a decision ([link removed]) to ban migrants above the age of 60 from residing in the country, and instead introduced a (costly) visa option.
In an effort to address labour shortages, migrant workers from any sector can now transfer to another with permission of their employer but without needing to complete one year of service. Domestic workers are excluded from this decision, and other restrictions apply ([link removed]) .

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Critical Issues:


Covid-19 restrictions on recruitment has led to a spike in trafficking and forced labour of domestic workers, which has not yet been adequately addressed by authorities

Migrant workers, particularly those in transport ([link removed]) , F&B ([link removed]) , and domestic work, continue to bear the brunt of exclusionary Covid-19 responses and weak labour regulations

Oman

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New Legislation:

Relaxation of NOC requirements for workers under the labour law, but only after completion of their work contracts, except in limited conditions ([link removed]) .

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Critical Issues:

A number of domestic workers, primarily from Sierra Leone, have been stranded in Oman for over a year ([link removed]) without support from authorities. Some are victims of trafficking.

Qatar

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New Legislation:

The new minimum wage came into effect in March 2021.

A new whistleblower platform ([link removed]) allows individuals to file anonymous complaints but still requires a valid mobile number.

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Critical Issues:

Significant reforms ([link removed]) announced in 2020 met with several roadblocks ([link removed]) as the Shura Council made recommendations ([link removed]) that could undo strides made in reforming the labour code and kafala.

Job mobility promised in last year’s reforms continues to be non-viable for a large number of migrant workers, particularly those in domestic work ([link removed]) .

The first phase of the ILO’s technical cooperation with Qatar came to an end and was renewed for another term, but without requiring reporting to the general body of the UN agency.

Migrant rights activist and MR contributor Malcolm Bidali was held incommunicado for several weeks ([link removed]) . He was released on payment of a large fine.

Saudi Arabia

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New Legislation:

Reforms to NOCs and exit visa requirements came into force in March 2021 ([link removed]) . Restrictions remain in place, and the reforms exclude domestic workers entirely.

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Critical Issues:

Tens of thousands of workers have been arrested, placed into unsanitary detention centres, and deported without individual review. ([link removed]) The forced return of many of these migrants, who hail primarily from Ethiopia and Yemen, likely amounts to refoulement.

Higher expat taxes make itdifficult for families and communities ([link removed]) to remain in Saudi Arabia.



UAE
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New Legislation:

A new labour law ([link removed]) will come into effect in February 2022. Implementing Regulations for the law, which have not yet been released, will determine the extent of reforms and their impact on lower-income migrant workers.

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Critical Issues:

The abuse of the country’s visit visa system, through which migrants are duped into high fees, fake jobs ([link removed]) , and vulnerable to trafficking ([link removed]) , remains a severe issue.

World Expo ([link removed]) recruitment and working conditions remain opaque.

Hundreds of workers from African countries who were arbitrarily detained and deported ([link removed]) , including those with valid visas, are struggling to recover their personal items and owed salaries, and for an explanation from the government,
Follow us on Twitter @MigrantRights ([link removed]) for our latest news and commentary.

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