Filipina migrant domestic workers are found all around the world. However, I am focusing on the women that work in the Middle East due to the Kafala System, which is a legal framework present in Gulf Nations, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, and Lebanon. The Kafala System was enacted as a result of the booming economy in support of local businesses during the twentieth century (Robinson, 2022). However, the system is currently seen as controversial due to its association with the exploitation of migrant workers, gender-based violence, and racial discrimination.

What is the Kafala System?

The Kafala System is a sponsorship arrangement between a migrant worker and a local citizen or sponsor (Robinson, 2022). In hindsight, the system is considerable, as the sponsor financially covers the flight, housing or accommodations, and salary, as well as ensuring the safety and well-being of the worker. However, this system gives the sponsor copious amounts of power, leaving migrant workers vulnerable. For instance, sponsors have the ability to renew or terminate migrant employment visas. Therefore, workers must receive permission from their employer or sponsor to change jobs, leave the country, or face arrests and fines —although workers' protective rights differ depending on the Gulf Nation.

According to Green & Ayalon (2018), the policies and rights that are in place to protect local citizens are normally not applicable to migrant workers in this region, specifically migrant domestic workers. Moreover, these workers spend thousands of dollars to pay for travel documents, visas, agencies, etc., to work in another country, and are typically borrowing from family, friends, or other acquaintances from their country of origin. Therefore, their salary during the first few years of employment goes toward paying their debt, making it much more difficult to leave an abusive employer.

Africans and South Asians make up the large population of migrant workers in Gulf Nations working in construction, service industries, or as domestic workers (Robinson, 2022). Domestic workers are viewed as the lowest status on the social hierarchy in this region. Thus, the abuse and discrimination these workers face are socially accepted by most locals (Al Taher, 2019). This culturally accepted treatment of lower-class workers has historical roots in slavery in ancient Egypt and Babylon in 750 BC. Nevertheless, some Middle Eastern countries did not abolish slavery until the mid-twentieth century, when migrant workers began moving to the Gulf nations to fulfill the domestic roles slaves left behind.

How is the Kafala System still in place?

The Kafala System is a failure of international law due to its institutional design concerning other international laws that protect the rights of migrant workers. For example, in 2011, the International Labor Organization (ILO) issued a convention of 27 articles listing protection for women migrant domestic workers and eliminating all forms of their abuse (Ghaddar, Khandaqji, & Ghattas, 2020). Unfortunately, the Kafala System is contradictory to the convention by the ILO, continuing to leave these women highly vulnerable to abuse. In Saudi Arabia, their recruitment system allows employers to label human domestic workers as "investments" (Johnson, 2011). Therefore, employers have the authority to withhold salaries and confine their employees to protect their "investment."

International organizations such as the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have criticized the system but have yet to take any firm action against it (Robinson, 2022). The Migrant Forum in Asia (2012) has analyzed the factors that affect any actions of reform on the Kafala System, stating that the economic interests of both sending-states and receiving-states play a significant role in the resistance to reform. Additionally, migrant workers are typically employed in the private sector in Gulf Nations, while the demand for policy changes is dependent on the willingness of nationals to work in the private sector, leading to the elimination of the concept of cheap labor (Migrant Forum in Asia, 2012).

It is reported that Qatar and Bahrain have abolished the Kafala System; however, the reforms must be adequately enforced by authorities (Robinson, 2022). Qatar is said to have set a minimum wage for migrant workers, permitting migrant workers to leave employers without receiving permission, and labor protection laws for migrant domestic workers (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Nevertheless, there are still reports from migrant workers in Qatar stating they are not receiving payments for months, live in hazardous accommodations, and are threatened or abused.

According to the ILO, sending-states can do more to support their citizens when working abroad in the Gulf Nations by "seeking bilateral labor agreements with provisions on working conditions and a minimum wage" (Robinson, 2022). Therefore, the Filipino government should implicate more protective measures, especially during the mandatory pre-departure training for migrant domestic workers, as the current ones do not include information on employer violence and worker rights (Henderson, 2020).