The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is globally renowned for its glittering skylines, luxury tourism, and rapid economic growth. Yet, beneath this image lies a stark reality: the country’s prosperity is built on the labor of millions of migrant workers, most of whom are governed by the restrictive and controversial Kafala sponsorship system. With nearly 88% of the UAE’s population composed of international migrants—primarily low-wage and semi-skilled workers from South Asia and Africa—the Kafala system has become both a cornerstone of the UAE’s economic model and a source of widespread human rights abuses. This analysis explores the Kafala system’s structure, its impact on migrant workers, reform efforts, and the international response, drawing on recent research and advocacy.
The Kafala System: Structure and Scope
Demographics and Dependency
The UAE hosts the world’s highest proportion of international migrants, with 8.7 million migrant workers out of a population of roughly 10 million. The largest groups hail from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines, with significant numbers from Nepal and other countries. Migrants make up more than 90% of the private sector workforce, underpinning the UAE’s construction, hospitality, and domestic work industries.
How the Kafala System Works
The Kafala (sponsorship) system is a legal and administrative framework that ties a migrant worker’s immigration and employment status directly to their employer, known as the kafeel. Employers sponsor workers’ visas, control their legal residency, and hold significant power over their ability to enter, exit, or change jobs in the country. This structure, while facilitating labor migration, creates a drastic power imbalance that leaves workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Abuses and Human Rights Violations
Passport Confiscation and Restricted Mobility
Despite legal prohibitions, the confiscation of passports remains widespread. Employers often seize workers’ documents, restricting their freedom of movement and making it nearly impossible to leave abusive workplaces or the country without employer consent. Changing jobs or resigning can result in the termination of sponsorship and deportation, further trapping workers in exploitative conditions.
Wage Theft and Recruitment Fees
Many migrant workers are lured by promises of decent wages but arrive to find lower pay, delayed or unpaid wages, and illegal recruitment fees that can leave them in debt bondage. Employers sometimes withhold wages as a means of control, and the lack of a minimum wage for most sectors exacerbates financial insecurity.
Poor Working and Living Conditions
Workers frequently endure long hours, hazardous conditions, and overcrowded labor camps with inadequate sanitation and ventilation. Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable, often excluded from labor laws and lacking access to complaint mechanisms. Reports document cases of forced labor, lack of rest days, and physical or psychological abuse, especially in construction and domestic work sectors.
Legal and Social Exclusion
The “differential exclusion” model means migrant workers have access only to the labor market, not to welfare, housing, subsidized healthcare, or political participation. They are excluded from government allowances and must rely solely on their wages for essential services. Citizenship and permanent residency are virtually unattainable for the vast majority of migrants, regardless of years of residence or contribution to the economy.
The Mirage of Reform
Recent Legal Changes
The UAE has introduced some reforms in response to international criticism. These include laws prohibiting passport confiscation, introducing wage protection systems, and providing limited legal protections for domestic workers. However, enforcement remains weak, and abuses persist. A 2019 US State Department report noted that the Emirati government “rarely investigated” violations of the law, allowing exploitative practices to continue unchecked.
Temporary Contracts and Long-Term Residency
While the Kafala system is based on temporary labor contracts, many migrants remain in the UAE for years through repeated renewals or by finding new sponsors. Despite this, their legal status remains precarious, and most are never eligible for permanent residency or citizenship. This temporariness ensures that migrants remain a flexible, disposable workforce, easily deported if they challenge abuse or lose employment.
Exclusion from Collective Bargaining
Trade unions and collective bargaining are banned in the UAE, leaving workers without a voice to negotiate better conditions or challenge unfair treatment. Domestic workers, in particular, have no effective means to seek redress for abuse or exploitation.
International Law and the Global Response
Human Rights Violations
The Kafala system violates several international human rights standards, including conventions against forced labor, discrimination, and the right to freedom of movement. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have repeatedly called for the abolition or comprehensive reform of the Kafala system.
International Pressure and Recommendations
The international community has urged the UAE to:
- Abolish or fundamentally reform the Kafala system
- Enforce laws prohibiting passport confiscation and wage theft
- Extend labor protections to all workers, including domestic workers
- Allow independent trade unions and collective bargaining
- Provide pathways to permanent residency and social integration for long-term migrants
Despite some progress, meaningful change has been slow, and migrant workers continue to face systemic barriers to justice and equality.
The Human Cost: Testimonies and Lived Experience
Stories from the Ground
Reports and interviews consistently reveal the gap between the UAE’s image as a “land of hope” and the reality for many migrants. Workers describe being “taken hostage” by employers, forced to live in squalid conditions, and threatened with deportation for asserting their rights. The lack of effective grievance mechanisms and fear of retaliation keep many silent, perpetuating cycles of abuse.
The Impact of Exclusion
The exclusion of migrants from social and political life not only undermines their well-being but also weakens the social fabric of the UAE. Migrant workers are essential to the country’s prosperity but remain invisible and disposable in the eyes of the law and society.
Paths Forward: Recommendations for Structural Change
Comprehensive Reform of the Kafala System
- Legal Protections: Enforce bans on passport confiscation, wage theft, and excessive recruitment fees.
- Labor Rights: Extend labor law protections to all sectors, including domestic work, and guarantee rest days, fair wages, and safe working conditions.
- Social Integration: Provide access to healthcare, housing, and education for migrant families; create pathways to long-term residency and citizenship.
- Empowerment: Allow trade unions, collective bargaining, and independent complaint mechanisms.
- Accountability: Strengthen labor inspections, ensure employer accountability, and provide legal aid to workers.
International Engagement
The UAE should work closely with international organizations and countries of origin to ensure ethical recruitment, fair treatment, and access to justice for all migrant workers.
The Kafala system remains a central pillar of the UAE’s economic success but at a profound human cost. While the country has made some legal reforms, the underlying structure continues to empower employers at the expense of migrant workers’ rights and dignity. Genuine progress requires not only stronger laws but also robust enforcement, social integration, and a shift in societal attitudes toward the millions who build and sustain the Emirates. Only then can the UAE’s promise of opportunity become a reality for all.