In Qatar and the UAE, around 90 percent of the population are foreign nationals.
The kafala system, a sponsorship arrangement binding migrant workers to their employers, emerged in the Gulf region in the early twentieth century to regulate foreign labor in the pearl diving industry.1 It expanded in the 1950s as oil revenues created demand for workers on large-scale infrastructure projects. After Gulf states achieved independence during the twentieth century, the sponsoring of foreign workers was delegated to citizens or citizen-owned companies.2
The current wave of labor migration intensified during the 1970s and 1980s oil boom, initially drawing workers from surrounding Arab countries. Today, migrant workers across the six Gulf Cooperation Council states typically arrive from South Asia, particularly India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, as well as from Southeast Asia and parts of Africa.3
In 2020, thirty-six million international migrants lived across GCC countries, Jordan, and Lebanon, constituting nearly half the combined total population of those countries.4 Migrants account for an average of 70 percent of the employed population in GCC states, and over 95 percent of private-sector workers in Qatar and the UAE.5
Under the kafala system, foreign workers depend on a local sponsor who issues their employment contract and controls their ability to change jobs, remain in the country, or leave. The sponsor can cancel a work permit at any time, while an employee cannot freely leave without the employer's consent.4 Reported abuses include confiscation of passports, delayed or absent salary payments, excessive working hours, and physical abuse. One survey found that 90 percent of low-income workers in Qatar did not have their passports in their own possession.3
International scrutiny intensified when Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup and reports emerged about conditions on construction sites. Qatar has since introduced a non-discriminatory minimum wage and some worker mobility reforms, becoming the only Middle Eastern country with such provisions.5 None of the six GCC states have signed the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.3