JEDDAH - The vice president of the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR) said he expected the sponsorship system for migrant workers in the Kingdom to be abolished within three years.
"We carried out a comprehensive study which showed the current kafala (sponsorship) system to be invalid," Mufleh Al-Qahtani said in comments published yesterday.
The sponsorship system, a set of regulations that limits workers' movements - particularly with regards to switching employers and puts them at the mercy of their employers - is in place in the GCC states and has drawn strong criticism from human rights groups.
Under the system, employers have the right to terminate foreign staff and prevent them from seeking other jobs in the country unless they fulfill a set of tough conditions. Employers also hold employees' passports in order to help ensure they do not flee to seek work illegally, often for better pay.
Complaints of unpaid salaries and abuse of workers, especially domestic staff, are regularly reported by the embassies and consulates of the countries, such as India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, that supply these laborers.
Al-Qahtani said the NSHR demanded the abolition of the sponsorship system after it received several complaints from both Saudis and expatriates.
"We don't see any real benefit from the present sponsorship system either for the workers or for their employers," the NSHR official said.
"We demand quick abolition of the sponsorship system and introduce a replacement, not only to protect the interests of Saudi employers and expatriate workers but also to protect national interests."
During an address to the Shoura Council on Sunday Saudi Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi took a different tack to the issue by saying his country's heavy dependence on foreign workers risks altering the country's political landscape in the future.
The minister, who is a vocal proponent of the need for the Kingdom to reduce its dependence on foreign labor though educational reforms, emphasized the need for imposing a residency limit on the millions of guest workers in Gulf countries in order to prevent them from demanding political rights. "We do not want the day to come when we are forced to allow them to be represented in our parliaments or municipal councils," Al-Eqtisadiah business daily quoted the minister as telling the Shoura Council.
Al-Gosaibi said he feared international pressure in the future would force the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries to enfranchise expatriate workers.
Bahrain's Labor Minister Majeed Al-Alawi has called for the Gulf's sponsorship system to be abandoned, saying it left foreign workers at the mercy of the individuals or institutions that employ them. He called for the host government to oversee visas and work permits to protect the rights of foreign workers.
Last month, Bahrain said it was studying the formation of a government organization to sponsor guest workers as an option to be able to renew its membership with the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The organization will be responsible for all the expatriates, will help safeguard their rights and protect them from being discriminated against by their sponsors. The ILO set June 2008 as the deadline for GCC countries to eliminate the sponsorship system.
Foreign workers make up about 13 million (37 percent) of the 35 million people in the six countries. In the UAE, foreign residents already outnumber Emiratis. These workers come mainly from the Asian subcontinent and are relied upon heavily to drive the booming Gulf economies, especially in the construction industry.
Al-Gosaibi did not specify how long expatriate workers should be allowed to work in the GCC. But Bahrain's Al-Alawi said in a previous statement that he supported a six-year residency cap.
P.K. Abdul Ghafour
