The year in review

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A wave of reforms to labour laws and the sponsorship system made headlines this year, but weak implementation and barriers to access mean little has changed in practice for most migrant workers. In place of structural reform, the Gulf states' continue to use detention and deportation to 'manage migration.'
Our Latest Reports
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Migrants in Kuwait stuck between cars they can’t drive and buses they don’t want to take ([link removed])

Erroneously blamed for the country’s overcrowded roads, non-nationals in Kuwait must meet an ever-growing list of arbitrary requirements to obtain a licence, including holding a university degree and earning a minimum of KD600 per month. And while more and more people are being forced out of owning private vehicles, they have virtually no viable alternative for transportation. Limited and unreliable bus services are the country’s only form of public transport, and haven’t seen major investment in over 40 years.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

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Critical protection gaps remain in UAE’s new domestic worker law ([link removed])

The UAE’s new domestic workers law (Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022) came into force on December 15, 2022. The law contains many of the same provisions as the previous law, with a few significant changes. There continue to be critical protection gaps for domestic workers, including the lack of a minimum wage, constrained sick leave options, and no explicit right to mobility outside the home. Throughout the legislation, imprecise wording and undefined terms also put more power into the hands of employers.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]ثغرات-مهمة-تبقى-في-قانون-عمال-المنازل-ا/)

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Workers in Qatar remain voiceless and invisible, despite reforms and international furore ([link removed])

While Qatar has reformed laws and has been more open than the rest of the GCC states in engaging with its critics, it will also pull off the World Cup without having to really bring about meaningful change or engage with those most impacted by its laws and policies. Qatar can do the dance with western critics, knowing well that it doesn’t have to change anything on the ground.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed]برغم-الإصلاحات-والضجة-الدولية،-العما/)

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Bahrain ends its Flexi-Permit programme and announces labour reforms ([link removed]) [link removed]

Bahrain officially ended its “Flexi-Permit” programme five years after its introduction. Opposition from elected officials, some business interests, and the declininghttps://www.gdnonline.com/Details/981253number of Flexi-Permit holders likely explain its cancellation. A new vocational work permit () has been announced in its place.

قراءة باللغة العربية ([link removed])

Country Highlights

Bahrain
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Bahrain announced the end of the Flexi-Permit programme ([link removed]) in October 2022, five years after its introduction. The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) subsequently launched a new “Labour Registration Program” ([link removed]) in its place. The program is available only to former Flexi-Permit holders and migrant workers who became irregular before its announcement on 27 October. The scheme allows for migrants to work without sponsors, but unlike the Flexi, they can only do so in the professions listed on their new ‘vocational work permits’, which are processed by private registration centres. Though the initiative aims to regularise migrant workers, the Bahraini government has simultaneously stepped up arrest and deportation campaigns
([link removed]) .

Moreover
, efforts to address the conditions which often push migrants into an irregular status remain inadequate. The final stage of the Wage Protection System ([link removed]) was introduced in January 2022, but actual safeguards against wage theft and remedies remain weak. Construction firm Abdulla H Al Derazi & Sons Co WLL ([link removed]) is the latest in a slew of companies abandoning their workers in Bahrain. The company’s 62 employees are owed between 6 and 12 months' worth of wages and end-of-service benefits, and were stuck living without electricity or gas at the company’s accommodation. Their experiences mirror the fate of G P Zachariades (GPZ) workers, who were stranded for months before returning home without their full dues. One former GPZ employee, Muhammad Elias, died a year after leaving Bahrain empty-handed
([link removed]) . His due wages would have covered the cost of a life-saving surgery.

Additionally, recent data released by Bahrain's Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) reveal an extreme disparity between migrant workers’ contributions to the unemployment fund and their ability to actually access these benefits ([link removed]) . Amid poor labour practices, private sector profits are soaring while migrants struggle with low wages and rising living costs ([link removed]) . The lack of access to social protections leaves workers even more vulnerable.

Kuwait
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Discriminatory policies in Kuwait continue to inform poor public policymaking that harms migrant workers most. Non-Kuwaiti residents are now required to pay additional fees ([link removed]) when purchasing medicine, on top of the healthcare and insurance fees they already pay. The move has already resulted in a sharp decline in migrants seeking treatments in medical centres. The ministry has also restricted some medications to nationals only, without specifying which. Lower-income migrant workers in particular have been targeted by officials: rather than ensuring affordable housing is available to the country’s workforce, authorities regularly shut off power to unapproved “bachelor” ([link removed]) accommodations.

Migrants are scapegoated for other public issues as well, including the country’s ongoing transportation crisis. Non-nationals face ever-increasing arbitrary restrictions to obtaining drivers’ licences, and have virtually no other viable means of transportation. Taxis and ride-share services are prohibitively expensive, while the county’s only form of public transportation hasn’t seen investment in over 40 years.

Poorly designed Kuwaitisation schemes have also led to the termination of hundreds of non-Kuwaiti public sector workers ([link removed]) without end-of-service benefits. Egyptian migrant workers ([link removed]) who account for roughly a quarter of the Kuwaiti workforce have been among the most affected by these efforts. Kuwait has recently imposed new restrictions on the recruitment of Egyptian workers ([link removed]) as well.

Wage theft is also on the rise in the domestic work sector, forcing workers into an irregular status and leading to an increase in the number of undocumented domestic workers ([link removed]) . In 2021, nearly 50% of the 151,690 ‘residency violators’ in the country were domestic workers. The country faces a shortage of domestic workers and recruitment fees are soaring.

Authorities have also ramped up arrest and deportation campaigns against migrants with irregular status ([link removed]) . The Public Authority for Manpower introduced a new service through the Asshal app to report the ‘absconding ([link removed]) ’ of migrant workers who have entered Kuwait with work permits but have not completed residency formalities.

Oman
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The situation of domestic workers in Oman came under the spotlight this year following a number of reports exposing rampant recruitment fraud and exploitation, particularly among Sierra Leonean ([link removed]) , other African nationals ([link removed]) , Indian ([link removed]) , and Sri Lankan ([link removed]) women. Unlike most other Gulf states, Oman has no domestic workers' law nor does it incorporate domestic workers into its labour law. Many of these workers are brought into Oman on tourist visas, rather than work visas, leaving them without even the meagre protections the law does provide. This abuse of Oman’s visit system affects migrant workers from all sectors
([link removed]) , who are often promised formal jobs only to find no job when they arrive, or otherwise forced to work without documentation.

While the domestic worker sector remains largely unregulated, Oman has issued a number of reforms to its larger labour market. In July 2022, the Ministry of Labour issued Ministerial Decision 235/2022 to localise 207 jobs ([link removed]) ; positions formerly held by migrant workers, such as security guards and bus drivers, can now only be held by citizens. The move came as part of a number of reforms to encourage Omanisation, which included a large reduction in migrant work visa fees ([link removed]) for companies that comply with Omanisation quotas. Oman has also conducted regular inspection campaigns to deport migrant workers with irregular status, and those working illegally in the fishing sector. ([link removed]) (Read our previous white paper
on the fishing sector in the GCC here ([link removed]) )

Qatar
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Despite labour reforms over the past 12 years, workers in Qatar remain voiceless and invisible ([link removed]) . In the run-up to the World Cup, workers continued to report long work hours without adequate overtime compensation, non-payment of wages, and the misuse of project visas ([link removed]) . A number of worker protests have resulted in deportations ([link removed]) . Moreover, workers were forced to return home ([link removed]) before the end of their contracts and with pending dues. Some were also told they were on “long leave,” and did not receive their end-of-service benefits, but remain unsure if they can return to Qatar
post-World Cup.

Earlier this year, Qatar Vaccination Centre staff members employed on temporary contracts complained they were not paid for over two months. ([link removed]) Uber and Careem drivers in Qatar also face systematic exploitation as ([link removed]) they are excluded from labour protections ([link removed]) by both limousine companies that sponsor them and the ride-hailing companies themselves. Migrant workers and recruitment agents from Kenya say the cost of recruitment to the Gulf and Qatar in particular has risen dramatically ([link removed]) in the last five year, with consultants recruiting for Qatar-based companies demanding
exorbitant fees.

With respect to domestic worker recruitment, the Ministry of Labour set a price cap on recruitment fees based on country of origin ([link removed]) . While controlling fees is important, failing to break-down of the costs to explain variations between countries feeds into stereotypes that link workers' values to their nationality. The Ministry also increased the probation period for domestic workers ([link removed]) from three months to nine months—another unclear regulation that may further increase workers’ vulnerability.

Qatar also introduced a compulsory health insurance system ([link removed]) for all non-Qatari residents, including visitors and those employed in the public and private sectors.

Saudi Arabia
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Non-nationals in Saudi Arabia are under pressure from expanding Saudisation programmes ([link removed]) and concurrent efforts to reduce the expat population. An estimated half a million migrants in Jeddah have been evicted ([link removed]) to make room for the city’s developments.

The country has launched intensive campaigns against migrant workers with irregular status, including those working for employers other than their sponsors. Campaigns have also focused on the border area, primarily affecting Ethiopian ([link removed]) and Yemeni migrants, who have been detained en masse, subject to gross abuse, and deported without individualised assessment. The mass arrests and deportations have continued despite the Kingdom’s recent entry into an agreement with the IOM ([link removed]) to support migrants and displaced people in Yemen.

Saudi authorities have expanded the conditions under which domestic workers can switch employers without their current employers’ consent ([link removed]) . However, the circumstances remain limited and difficult for domestic workers to access in practice. The experiences of Kenyan domestic workers in the country—which include rape, abuse, neglect, and death threats ([link removed]) — reflect the massive protection gaps that remain in the sector. Nonetheless, the Kingdom continues to sign new and updated agreements to recruit domestic workers, including from the Philippines, Thailand ([link removed]) , and Indonesia ([link removed]) .

Migrant workers in other sectors also continue to face the consequences of the chasm between law and implementation. Saudi Arabia has the highest mortality rate and the highest number of suicides ([link removed]) in the Gulf among Nepali workers, and authorities have failed to investigate the underlying causes of these deaths. Issues of wage theft remain rampant, with commitments to resolve older cases ([link removed]) falling by the wayside.

Moreover, false huroob (absconding) cases are on the rise ([link removed]) , despite reforms to the Kafala system that have purported to increase employment mobility for migrant workers. Though the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development updated regulations ([link removed]) relating to abstention from work and the right to transfer employment, they remain largely unclear. The system continues to be rife for corruption and exploitation.



UAE
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The UAE’s new domestic workers law ([link removed]) (Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022) came into force on December 15, 2022. The law contains many of the same provisions as the previous law, with a few significant changes. Despite some progress, there are still significant protection gaps, including the lack of a minimum wage, restricted sick leave options, no stated right to mobility outside the house, and long working hours. Under separate regulations, employers of domestic workers can ‘opt in’ to the Wage Protection System (WPS) ([link removed]) . Given that it remains voluntary and that the WPS is only as effective as the wider regulatory environment, the move seems especially perfunctory.

Domestic workers are also excluded from the UAE’s new unemployment scheme ([link removed]) , which is mandatory for all other public and private sector workers and will come into effect on January 1, 2023. The scheme provides limited cash benefits for the first three months of unemployment, after 12 months of enrolment. Though the expansion of social protections to migrants is an important and welcome move, barriers to accessing the scheme’s benefits ([link removed]) disregard workers’ lack of power under the Kafala System.

Ugandan workers ([link removed]) report paying some of the highest recruitment fees to work in the UAE, compared to other Gulf states. Over 1,500 Uganda workers, the vast majority of them domestic workers who left exploitative situations, sought repatriation support this year. ([link removed]) UAE authorities announced travel restrictions ([link removed]) on Ugandan and other African nationals due to misuse of visit visas.

The country also reduced fees for issuing work permits ([link removed]) for expatriate employees to incentivise companies that surpass nationalisation quotas, alongside steep penalties for noncompliance.

Reporting on the UAE remains restricted by low press freedoms and the expansion of cybercrime laws. A Ugandan journalist deported from the country over a decade ago reflects on the stories he was forced to censor, including those on the deaths of migrant workers ([link removed]) . Despite the constraining environment, Deliveroo and Talabat riders launched a rare strike in protest ([link removed]) of reduced wages. Following viral videos of the protests on social media, the delivery app companies were forced to reconsider the new policy.


Buy our book Stories of Origin: The Invisible Lives of Migrants in the Gulf, available in paperback on Amazon ([link removed])
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You can also purchase our E-Book from us directly, in both English ([link removed]) and Arabic ([link removed]) .

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @MigrantRights ([link removed]) or our latest news and commentary.

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