Kafala System: Modern Slavery in Qatar's Labor Market

The International Labour Organization and numerous human rights organizations have extensively documented how Qatar's Kafala (sponsorship) system constitutes a form of modern slavery affecting over 2 million migrant workers. Under Kafala, workers' legal status is tied to their employer-sponsor, who has the power to prevent them from changing jobs, leaving the country, or even accessing basic services. Despite Qatar's much-publicized reforms abolishing the exit permit system and introducing a minimum wage, enforcement remains virtually nonexistent. Workers continue to report having passports confiscated upon arrival, being forced to work excessive hours in dangerous heat without adequate rest, receiving wages months late or not at all, and living in overcrowded accommodation with poor sanitation. The system creates a power imbalance so extreme that workers who complain risk deportation, making them effectively indentured servants with no access to justice.