In June, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) government officially announced abolishing the Kafala System as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 program, a government initiative to modernize the country.

Used by most Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including KSA, Jordan, and Lebanon, the Kafala system is a legal framework which ties a migrant’s residency visa and legal status to his/her employer or sponsor (called a kafeel). This system foments an abusive relationship between the employer and worker as it promotes treating migrant workers as modern-day slaves.

This system prohibits a worker to change employers, leave the country without their employer’s permission, or seek legal recourse when abused. It covers about 28 million migrants mostly from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

According to a Migrante Middle East research, although KSA announced that the system had been abolished, the actual conditions and situations of migrants remain the same. Migrants practically remain tied to their employers, and the regulations still favor the employers.

“This initiative is not entirely new, as similar legal adjustments were previously introduced in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Although minor improvements can be observed, numerous loopholes in both the law and its implementation persist, leaving migrant workers in vulnerable positions,” the group explained.

“Overall, we find little reason to be optimistic about the purported reforms. The changes appear largely cosmetic—altering terminology rather than transforming substance. The entrenched culture of the Kafala system, coupled with limited labor protections, inadequate wage standards, and repressive administrative practices, continues to suppress the rights and dignity of overseas workers in the Kingdom,” the group stated.