Since Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the country’s labour practices have come under greater scrutiny, prompting the Arab state to work with the ILO towards reform. In addition to ending kafala, it has also introduced a non-discriminatory minimum wage, the first in the Middle East.

Some small legal steps have been taken by some of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). These countries have agreed on standard legislation to protect domestic migrant workers, but the rights this legislation gives them is still weaker than the countries’ current labor laws. Now, governments are starting to include legal articles regarding their rights. But the most important challenge lies with the reform the Kafala system. Once the system is clear on the rights of migrant workers, mentalities should follow.

One domestic worker dies every week in Lebanon from unnatural causes such as suicide, failed escape or murder, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2008. ‘Interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed suicide suggest that forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives,’ the report stated.

One domestic worker dies every week in Lebanon from unnatural causes such as suicide, failed escape or murder, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2008. ‘Interviews with embassy officials and friends of domestic workers who committed suicide suggest that forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse and financial pressures are key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives,’ the report stated.

Despite attempts at reform, with the restrictive sponsorship system still in place and inadequate enforcement of the law, migrant workers in the Gulf are still vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. This, in turn, damages the modern and progressive image of the region, an image that these states are eager to maintain.

Several countries in the Middle East, especially Gulf states, are magnets for migrant labourers who do the work nationals are not accustomed or willing to do.

Despite labour reforms in recent years, migrant workers in the UAE continue to be subjected to abuse that amounts to forced labour, while complaints of inadequate housing, non-payment of wages, and deportation persist.

Most of the human-rights violations in the UAE involve the large population of Asian migrant workers, mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who suffer, at the hands of their employers and employment agencies, abuses including confiscation of their passports, non-payment of wages, and deplorable working and housing conditions that can be inhumane and resemble slavery.