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Kafala system
The kafala system or kefala system (Arabic: نظام الكفالة niẓām al-kafāla, lit. 'sponsorship system') is a system in the Middle East that involves binding migrant workers to a specific employer throughout the period of their residence in a country. It currently exists in many Arab countries, especially those in the Arabian Peninsula, with Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait also being very prominent. A similar "binding system" existed in Israel until 2006, when the Israeli Supreme Court addressed and eliminated it.
The system, which blocks domestic competition for overseas workers in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, requires migrant workers to have an in-country sponsor, usually their employer, who is responsible for their visa and legal status. This practice has been criticized by human rights organizations for creating easy opportunities for the exploitation of workers, as many employers confiscate their migrant workers' passports and abuse them with little chance of legal repercussions and even repatriation. In 2014, the International Trade Union Confederation estimated that there were 2.4 million enslaved domestic workers in the Arab Gulf countries and the Levant, virtually all of them from West Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
In the first decades of the 21st century, the migrant worker system became widely referred to the "kafala system" in English. The word kafala comes from Arabic, and the related word kafeel refers to the local employment sponsor in the system. In Islamic adoptional jurisprudence, "kafala" refers to the adoption of children. The original law of kafala was expanded to include a system of fixed-term sponsorship of migrant workers in several countries in the late 20th century.[citation needed] This modern system has its origins in labour practices related to pearl hunting. In the Persian Gulf, the pearling industry was dominated by slave labour, and prior to the abolition of slavery in the 20th century, slaves were used as pearl divers.
In 2009, Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to repeal the kafala system. In a public statement, the Labour Minister likened the system to slavery. Changes to the Labour Market Regulatory Law were made in April 2009 and implemented starting 1 August 2009. Under the new law, migrants are sponsored by the Labour Market Regulation Authority and can change from one employer to another without their employer's agreement. Three months' notice is required to quit from an employer.
However, in November 2009 Human Rights Watch stated that "authorities do little to enforce compliance" with "employers who withhold wages and passports from migrant employees ... practices [which] are illegal under Bahraini law."
Israel has abolished Kafala system.
For generations through the year 2006, Israel effectively maintained a kafala system, which in Israel was called the "binding system". As with the kafala system, migrant laborers in Israel were tied to a specific employer for their duration of their visas. Over the years when Israel maintained this system, passport confiscation and other abuses were systematic and effectively went unpunished.
The Israeli Supreme Court struck down the Israeli version of the kafala system in a landmark March 2006 decision, Kav LaOved Worker’s Hotline v. Government of Israel, with the Court citing human rights concerns. However, a 2014 study by Israeli labour scholars Adriana Kemp and Rebeca Raijman claimed that the binding system still applies to migrant domestic workers, though not to migrant workers in general.
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Kafala system
The kafala system or kefala system (Arabic: نظام الكفالة niẓām al-kafāla, lit. 'sponsorship system') is a system in the Middle East that involves binding migrant workers to a specific employer throughout the period of their residence in a country. It currently exists in many Arab countries, especially those in the Arabian Peninsula, with Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait also being very prominent. A similar "binding system" existed in Israel until 2006, when the Israeli Supreme Court addressed and eliminated it.
The system, which blocks domestic competition for overseas workers in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, requires migrant workers to have an in-country sponsor, usually their employer, who is responsible for their visa and legal status. This practice has been criticized by human rights organizations for creating easy opportunities for the exploitation of workers, as many employers confiscate their migrant workers' passports and abuse them with little chance of legal repercussions and even repatriation. In 2014, the International Trade Union Confederation estimated that there were 2.4 million enslaved domestic workers in the Arab Gulf countries and the Levant, virtually all of them from West Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
In the first decades of the 21st century, the migrant worker system became widely referred to the "kafala system" in English. The word kafala comes from Arabic, and the related word kafeel refers to the local employment sponsor in the system. In Islamic adoptional jurisprudence, "kafala" refers to the adoption of children. The original law of kafala was expanded to include a system of fixed-term sponsorship of migrant workers in several countries in the late 20th century.[citation needed] This modern system has its origins in labour practices related to pearl hunting. In the Persian Gulf, the pearling industry was dominated by slave labour, and prior to the abolition of slavery in the 20th century, slaves were used as pearl divers.
In 2009, Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to repeal the kafala system. In a public statement, the Labour Minister likened the system to slavery. Changes to the Labour Market Regulatory Law were made in April 2009 and implemented starting 1 August 2009. Under the new law, migrants are sponsored by the Labour Market Regulation Authority and can change from one employer to another without their employer's agreement. Three months' notice is required to quit from an employer.
However, in November 2009 Human Rights Watch stated that "authorities do little to enforce compliance" with "employers who withhold wages and passports from migrant employees ... practices [which] are illegal under Bahraini law."
Israel has abolished Kafala system.
For generations through the year 2006, Israel effectively maintained a kafala system, which in Israel was called the "binding system". As with the kafala system, migrant laborers in Israel were tied to a specific employer for their duration of their visas. Over the years when Israel maintained this system, passport confiscation and other abuses were systematic and effectively went unpunished.
The Israeli Supreme Court struck down the Israeli version of the kafala system in a landmark March 2006 decision, Kav LaOved Worker’s Hotline v. Government of Israel, with the Court citing human rights concerns. However, a 2014 study by Israeli labour scholars Adriana Kemp and Rebeca Raijman claimed that the binding system still applies to migrant domestic workers, though not to migrant workers in general.