Keywords

Kafala System; Middle East; Human Rights; Slavery; Modern Slavery; Sponsorship

Abstract

The present research analyzes the Kafala sponsorship system and how it impacts the rights and lives of migrant workers in Middle Eastern and Arab Gulf countries. The Kafala system connects a worker's legal status to their employer, providing companies with significant power over their employees' occupations, movements, and ability to leave the nation. Although some governments as well as businesses maintain that the system promotes economic growth and provides important labor, many studies reveal that it can result in exploitation, such as passport seizure, postponed wages, unsafe working conditions, and reduced freedom. The objective of this study is to understand why the Kafala system persists despite worldwide disapproval and continued human rights concerns. This study employs qualitative research. Scholars, journalists, and human rights organizations provide testimonials, interviews, case studies, and previously published materials as part of qualitative research. The study intends to demonstrate that the system persists primarily due to its economic reliance on low-cost labor, a lack of political will to implement reforms, and the benefits that employers and wealthy sponsors receive from supporting the system. While some employees receive better treatment than others, the whole system promotes vulnerability and unequal power. This study is important because it brings attention to an issue that affects millions of workers but receives limited public attention, and it intends to support greater understanding and prospective governmental reforms that improve migrant worker protections. This topic is rarely talked about on a global scale, despite the fact that it impacts thousands of people every day. My interest in this topic is both personal and academic, since I am motivated to investigate and share the truths of human rights violations.

Thesis Completion Year

2026

Thesis Completion Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair

Ozoglu, Hakan

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

History Department

Thesis Discipline

Political Science

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

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