The Kafala System Part I: Worker Exploitation and The 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup

This article is the first of a two-part series. You can read part two here.

On December 2, 2010, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, better known as FIFA, announced that the 2022 World Cup would take place in Qatar, beating out bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. This marks the first time in the league’s history that the tournament will be held in the Middle East. In its preparations for the tournament since 2010, the small peninsular Persian Gulf nation has employed roughly two million migrant workers, primarily hailing from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. 

Increasingly over the last several decades, it has become commonplace for foreign nationals, particularly from Asia and Africa, to find work in the construction and domestic service industries in the Middle East due to a lack of opportunity and inadequate pay in their home countries. Equally common are reports of inhumane working conditions and employer abuse and exploitation, resulting in the deaths of thousands of otherwise young, healthy migrant workers. Issues include unreasonably low pay and long hours, forced labor, misleading contracts, excessive visa and travel fees, and sexual violence. 

Along with the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, as well as Jordan and Lebanon, Qatar uses the kafala (“sponsorship”) system in which the state grants local individuals and companies the ability to sponsor foreign nationals through recruitment agencies based mainly in South Asia and Africa, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. However, the decentralized structure of the system leaves workers outside of the protection of labor laws and without the ability to unionize. To make matters worse, sponsors often have control over their workers' choices to change or end employment and enter or exit the country by withholding passports and other documentation. 

According to Hukoomi, the government’s official website, Qatar’s designation as the location for the World Cup opened thousands of new jobs for workers to construct and renovate new environmentally conscious stadiums, an expanded transportation network, and nearby accommodations. However, Hiba Zayadin, a Gulf researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in an August 2021 interview for the Arab e-zine Jadaliyya that “Qatar has refused to make public any meaningful data on migrant worker deaths, and heat regulations designed to protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat and humidity are still woefully inadequate.” According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), working egregiously long hours in temperatures ranging from 90 to 110° F resulted in the deaths of 1,200 migrant workers between 2010 and 2013, with 4,000 total deaths predicted by 2022. 

However, migrant worker exploitation at major sporting events is certainly not unique to the Middle East. In the years leading up to the August 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports included excessive hours, wage inequality, workers forced to purchase their own personal protective equipment (PPE), and fear of complaining under threat of dismissal. Struggling with a dwindling workforce and aging population, Japan introduced the Technical Intern Training Program in 1993 in order to supply foreign nationals from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia to fill blue-collar jobs. Similarly to the kafala system, the program provides little protection for migrant workers, although they are not nearly as bound to their sponsors.  

Qatar’s winning bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup increased international attention and criticism of the plight of its workforce, prompting the nation to institute a few reforms. From 2020 onward, employers no longer have to approve worker job changes, but many still face administrative difficulties in the form of exorbitant fees and paperwork. Furthermore, a minimum wage was enacted in Qatar the following year. While a step in the right direction, those working in the domestic sector — a large industry regardless of whether any international sports competitions are happening — still lack protection from physical and sexual abuse, and, in extreme cases, sex trafficking. Amnesty International reported that under pressure from human rights organizations, the European Union, and various media outlets, in 2018 Qatar finally removed the requirement for workers to receive permission from their employer in order to leave the country. Domestic workers were granted this human right only later, at the end of 2019. 

In the absence of authoritative oversight, the kafala system leaves workers at the mercy of controlling employers. Attempts at reform have been too slow, allowing for abuse to continue in the meantime. A government agency in each of the GCC countries as well as Jordan and Lebanon should handle the entry and placement of foreign nationals, allowing workers the ability to unionize and submit complaints to authorities safely. Standards that align with international treaties on human rights, including a livable minimum wage, wage equity across all demographics, and safe working conditions, must be guaranteed through legislative action in the long term, but immediate mandate in the short term. 

Employment should no longer be contracted over lengthy periods of time, putting administrative barriers in the way of workers who wish to quit. Exorbitant documentation fees that can also discourage from changing jobs or terminating a contract ahead of time must be regulated. Host countries should set up shelters for domestic workers and those who do not have the chance to plan an escape. The Council on Foreign Relations writes that the Philippines notably set up state-run shelters located in host countries in the event that Filipino service workers experience abuse. While undoubtedly a positive act of governmental support, it is not only the responsibility of the countries of origin to watch out for their citizens working abroad. Qatar should use the 2022 FIFA World Cup as an opportunity to set an example for reforming outdated labor standards and protecting its migrant workers, who have left their homes behind for a chance at a better life. If the current circumstances are not enough to merit more action from the state, then perhaps only threatening to boycott participating in and watching the games will yield the change needed.

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