Kafala as fatal strategy: a historical and critical analysis of the Qatari kafala system

This paper raises issues pertaining to prevalent claims of human trafficking and forced labour under the kafala migrant system, a migrant sponsorship system used by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which includes the following: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The conceptualization of human trafficking and migrant labour fits into the conceptual mode of slavery and enslaved labour of racialised bodies. It can be best understood through an anti-racist and anti-colonial framework. This article explores racial disposability of brown bodies under systems of debt labour, as brown bodies have been historically constructed and conceptualized as mere labour commodities, and assigned to spaces of degenerous work. Drawing connections from the Black-White paradigm and the saliency of Black skin as racialised bodies, this article argues that the saliency of brown skin has been historically produced and intertwined with notions of bondage and enslaved labour, as a result of brown skins positionality in Black-White paradigm constitutes brown bodies as racialised. Anti-racist theorizing found in this paper led to the tracing of the inextricably linked narratives of human trafficking under the British’s Indian Indentureship system and the kafala system.

Domestic workers face increased risk for sexual harassment and assault in the workplace but are often reluctant to disclose abuse or seek retribution. We report on a study looking at migrant domestic workers’ responses to sexual violence, reasons behind their responses, and factors enhancing or diminishing vulnerability to abuse. We carried out qualitative, in-depth, individual and group interviews with 15 female domestic workers from the Philippines and Sri Lanka working in the Republic of Cyprus. Descriptive thematic analysis was used to analyse data using QSR NVivo 10.0. Sexual violence against migrant domestic workers was reported to be rampant, particularly among women living with their employer. Perpetrators took advantage of women’s precarious legal, social, and economic circumstances to coerce women into a sexual relationship. All participants reported taking action to stop attacks despite the significant barriers they faced: racism and discrimination, social isolation, and hostile legal, labour, and immigration systems. Fear of losing their job, being deported, and facing racism and discrimination from the police were the biggest barriers to seeking retribution. Access to informational, e.g., legal, practical, and emotional support, facilitated positive outcomes following abuse, such as finding a new employer. Systemic racism, hostile labour and immigration systems, and lack of support increase risk of sexual violence and place barriers against accessing safe working spaces, protection, and justice. Women need to be informed of the risks involved in domestic work and empowered to identify abuse and access help and support when needed.

This article examines the kafala system, which governs labor relations between employers and migrant workers in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. It provides an in-depth analysis of migrant working conditions, the rights of foreign laborers, employer attitudes towards ‘guest workers,' and the various national reforms aimed at modifying the system. Additionally, the article offers a historical overview of the sponsorship system and its evolution over time. Further, it presents expert perspectives on the future trajectory of the kafala system, alongside the official positions of key international institutions, including the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and prominent human rights organizations. The study concludes with a comparative analysis of the kafala system in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the patent system in Russia. Despite sustained advocacy from international organizations for the abolition of the kafala system, significant obstacles persist. Existing reforms remain insufficient, as migrant workers - particularly domestic laborers - continue to face harsh working conditions and widespread abuse. The article ultimately argues that further structural reforms are imperative, alongside the establishment of a robust oversight mechanism to ensure compliance with new labor laws protecting foreign workers. Moreover, it underscores the necessity of enhanced institutional support for migrants, including greater assistance from embassies and employment agencies.

Background . The imperfection of legislation, the ambiguity of authority, resource insufficiency, the presence of religious pluralism, and interfaith conflicts complicate the formation and implementation of effective and acceptable state-regional policy in the sphere of socio-religious relations in Ukraine. Such policy should consider the interests and needs of various religious communities, organizations, and institutions, as well as promote their dialogue, cooperation, and integration. This article is dedicated to exploring the potential of contemporary models of power, influence, dependency, leadership, and policy for improving mechanisms of state policy formation and implementation in the sphere of socio-religious relations in Ukraine. The author analyzes the characteristics, problems, challenges, and prospects of state policy formation and implementation in this sphere, considering four contemporary models as conceptual foundations: French and Raven's models of power and leadership, Etzioni's model of power and influence, Emerson's model of power and dependency, and Pfeffer's model of power and politics. Methods . To achieve the defined objective, an analysis of literature and data reflecting state policy and socio-religious processes in Ukraine was applied. Comparative analysis revealed key aspects of policy in Ukraine and the USA. Historical analysis helped understand various factors and policies that shaped socio-religious relations. Systemic analysis considers state policy as a multi-level system and structural-functional analysis defines its structure and elements. Results . Scientific works of domestic and foreign scholars, legislative acts, reports of state bodies, media, international organizations, and religious communities were analyzed. The research identifies and substantiates how contemporary models of power, influence, and leadership can enhance the effectiveness of state policy in the sphere of socio-religious relations, as well as develop and propose innovative approaches and suggestions for its improvement. The study utilized methods of analysis of scientific literature, documents, statistical data, results of sociological surveys; comparative, historical, systemic, and structuralfunctional analysis. Conclusions . The author argues that to increase the effectiveness of state policy in the sphere of socio-religious relations, it is necessary to use contemporary models of power, leadership, influence, dependency, and policy. These models allow for the analysis, utilization, and development of various sources, forms, types of power, and mechanisms of policy formation used by different subjects such as the state, regions, religious communities, and public organizations in the sphere of socio-religious relations (USA).

The conventional wisdom holds that the only point of consensus in the fractious US immigration debate is that the system is broken. Yet, the US public has consistently expressed a desire for a legal and orderly immigration system that serves compelling national interests. This paper describes how to create such a system. It focuses on the cornerstone of immigration reform,1 the legal immigration system,2 and addresses the widespread belief that broad reform will incentivize illegal migration and ultimately lead to another large undocumented population. The paper begins with an analysis of presidential signing statements on seminal immigration legislation over nearly a century. These statements reveal broad consensus on the interests and values that the United States seeks to advance through its immigration and refugee policies. They constitute additional common ground in the immigration debate. To serve these interests, immigration and refugee considerations must be “mainstreamed” into other policy processes. In addition, its policies will be more successful if they are seen to benefit or, at least, not to discriminate against migrant-sending states. Not surprisingly, the US immigration system does not reflect the vast, mostly unanticipated changes in the nation and the world since Congress last meaningfully reformed this system (27 years ago) and last overhauled the law (52 years ago). The paper does not detail the well-documented ways that US immigration laws fall short of serving the nation's economic, family, humanitarian, and rule of law objectives. Nor does it propose specific changes in categories and levels of admission. Rather, it describes how a legal immigration system might be broadly structured to deliver on its promises. In particular, it makes the case that Congress should create a flexible system that serves compelling national interests, allows for real time adjustments in admission based on evidence and independent analysis, and vests the executive with appropriate discretion in administering the law. The paper also argues that the United States should anticipate and accommodate the needs of persons compelled to migrate by its military, trade, development, and other commitments. In addition, the US immigration system needs to be able to distinguish between undocumented immigrants, and refugees and asylum seekers, and to treat these two populations differently. The paper assumes that there will be continued bipartisan support for immigration enforcement. However, even with a strong enforcement apparatus in place and an adaptable, coherent, evidence-based legal immigration system that closely aligns with US interests, some (reduced) level of illegal migration will persist. The paper offers a sweeping, historical analysis of how this population emerged, why it has grown and contracted, and how estimates of its size have been politically exploited. Legalization is often viewed as the third rail of immigration reform. Yet, Congress has regularly legalized discrete undocumented populations, and the combination of a well-structured legalization program, strengthened legal immigration system, and strong enforcement policies can prevent the reemergence of a large-scale undocumented population. In contrast, the immense US enforcement apparatus will work at cross-purposes to US interests and values, absent broader reform. The paper ends with a series of recommendations to reform the legal immigration system, downsize the current undocumented population, and ensure its permanent reduction. It proposes that the United States “reissue” (or reuse) the visas of persons who emigrate, as a way to promote legal immigration reform without significantly increasing annual visa numbers.

Reviewed by: Managed Migrations: Growers, Farmworkers, and Border Enforcement in the Twentieth Century by Cristina Salinas John Weber Managed Migrations: Growers, Farmworkers, and Border Enforcement in the Twentieth Century. By Cristina Salinas. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2019. Pp. 272. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.) In Managed Migrations, Cristina Salinas covers familiar ground for historians of Texas, but by mining underused sources and utilizing a small number of new oral interviews, she delivers a ground-level view of labor relations and immigration control in the Texas–Mexico border region. The book does not seem designed for non-specialists, with little space given to explain the development of border agriculture or its regional and national context. However, for scholars of labor, migration, agriculture, and the U.S.–Mexico border, it provides textured, engaging coverage of border labor issues. Across six chapters, Salinas examines an interlocking set of themes that came to define the labor and immigration system in the lower Rio Grande Valley and El Paso. The first two chapters focus on the world that farm promoters [End Page 262] and landowners claimed to have built from scratch: a world fueled by crooked business practices, pretensions of mastery, and self-serving paternalism. Salinas deepens this familiar narrative by digging further than most previous historians into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s John Shary Collection. She also deftly uses Carrol Norquest as an exemplar of the farmers’ self-image as protectors of their labor force against law enforcement, labor contractors, and other imagined enemies. Norquest’s book Rio Grande Wetbacks (University of New Mexico Press, 1972) has been used by many historians to explicate growers’ self-serving arguments, but Salinas provides a fascinating counterpoint to Norquest’s glib memoir by interviewing surviving members of a Mexican family that worked for Nor-quest, offering a new set of voices to help narrate this history. Chapter 3 moves on to a localized history of enforcement actions by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol from the 1930s to the 1950s. Salinas drew much of her evidence for this chapter from underutilized National Archives records that provide ample new evidence of corruption, collusion with growers, and selective enforcement. The argument is not necessarily new, but Salinas has added fascinating details. Chapter 4 shifts to an examination of efforts by the U.S., Mexican, and Texas governments to “protect” workers from labor contractors, depicted by growers and bureaucrats as agents of exploitation. Salinas shows that these campaigns, well-meaning rhetoric aside, emerged from demands to rationalize the migrant labor system to make it more legible and controllable for growers and their allies in government. Chapter 5 proceeds along similar lines, highlighting the 1948 “El Paso incident” in which the U.S. government and Texas growers consciously violated the bi-national Bracero Program, pointing out both the high-handed actions of U.S. officials and the individual actions of Mexican workers who sought to use the breach for their own opportunity. The final chapter explains the combined efforts of the American G.I. Forum and the Texas State Federation of Labor to publicize undocumented migration as a social and economic problem that demanded governmental action. The labor federation and the Mexican American civil rights organization argued that the INS and Border Patrol colluded with growers and allowed undocumented migration to hurt Mexican American communities. They sought more rigid enforcement (for instance, cheering on “Operation Wetback,” the 1954 deportation campaign) as a way to ease economic problems in Mexican American communities and to challenge conservative control of the Texas state government. This effort did not achieve its goals, but Salinas shows that it increased the volume of anti-Mexican sentiment and left behind a complicated historical legacy of nativism. My only criticism of Salinas’s book is the historiographic straw man that frames her introduction. She argues that previous historians have fallen [End Page 263] into one of two camps: “those emphasizing the gradual hardening of border laws and infrastructure, and those emphasizing the continued movement of people, commodities, and ideas across the border” (7). While her rejection of a dichotomous relationship between these two notions is unobjectionable, she ignores or miscasts the ways in...

A succession of policy changes to the immigration and refugee system has been made in Canada in recent years by the Conservative federal government. Since most people’s understandings about immigration issues come from exposure to the news, the media have an important role in producing and reproducing prevalent public opinions to support and legitimize, or criticize, social and political actions. The present study examines how the immigration and refugee policy changes have been represented in mainstream print media and provides an important interface between recent political decision-making and society with regard to immigration issues. In our analysis, we demonstrate that there is a construction of the existing system as facing crisis due to rampant frauds to legitimize the implementation of more restrictive “get-tough” policies as pragmatic and commonsensical interventions. On the other hand, there is a privileging of framing immigration as being necessary for society, albeit in economic rather than sociocultural terms. In the media, social categorizations of immigrants into “good” and “bad,” and refugee claimants into “genuine” and “bogus,” are deployed to support the policy changes for a market-driven immigration system while restricting the admission of refugees and family-class immigrants, who are often portrayed as a burden on public resources.

Reaching Back: Convict Leasing and the Trusty System in the Nineteenth Century

The Gulf Declaration of Human Rights (GDHR) is a regional human rights document that has largely evaded wide academic discourse. The substantive debate is primarily between Khalifa Alfadhel and the author: Alfadhel praises the GDHR for its attempt at reconciling Islamic values with international human rights law, whilst the author argues the GDHR is an intrinsically flawed and vapid document that does not cement human rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This article seeks to strengthen the author’s argument, focusing on the GDHR’s protection against slavery through a case study of the GCC’s kafala system. Comparative analysis between the GDHR, domestic GCC legislation, Sharīʿah and international human rights standards will plainly show how the GDHR fails in its intended objectives. Ultimately, the article will provide opportunity for further discourse surrounding the GDHR and what steps could be necessary to elevate the document to one of substance.

As Jordan continues to experience an increasing influx of foreign workers in the country due to political issues arising in neighbouring countries and Jordan’s strategic position, it was deemed necessary to provide a review of the current framework governing foreign workers and to demonstrate any issues in the current legislation. In this article, the authorused the descriptive analysis approach to provide a summary of the labor migration status in Jordan,The International framework that Jordan adheres to, the national laws and regulations in place to regulate foreign workforce, in addition to providing a critical analysis of the Kafala system in Jordan and reflecting on the issues it raises. The author concluded that Jordan’s current laws prohibit foreign workers from forming trade unions, or take leadership positions in any trade unions, contradicting the international guarantees provided by human rights conventions, additionally the author has shed a light on the consequences of implementing the Kafala (sponsorship) system.

Entrevista realizada en la ciudad de Quito el 1 de octubre de 2018 a la profesora e investigadora Shelley Cavalieri, ganadora de la beca Fullbright para desarrollar su proyecto en Ecuador. En esta entrevista se discute sobre su trabajo de investigación, el cual plantea la propiedad como mecanismo de defensa y garantía de los derechos de las mujeres y su vinculación jurídica con los estudios de la Teoría Legal Feminista. Asimismo, de manera general, se reflexiona alrededor de temas de relevancia jurídica tales como la trata de personas y la descriminalización del trabajo sexual, y los sistemas sanitario y migratorio de Estados Unidos.

Since winning the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, the Qatari government has channelled billions of dollars into infrastructural development to prepare for the tournament, which has ramped up the country's already high reliance on migrant labour. The international spotlight on migrant labour abuse has also become more intense as the date of the event approaches. Yet, human rights discourses surrounding World Cup 2022 continue to paint a simplistic and incomplete picture of migrant labour in the Gulf, where racism and its correctives are defined through the white gaze, with undercurrents of Orientalism and Islamophobia. In contrast, we offer a historical and transnational framework for understanding contemporary racialised labour and immigration systems in the Gulf. Effectively improving everyday life for migrant workers in the Gulf requires engaging both local stakeholders and the multiple actors and institutions—both inside and outside Qatar—involved in reproducing these systems.

The article discusses the essence and characteristics of process-oriented management of the economic potential of enterprise on the basis of the diagnostics and assessment of methods of economic potential. The research is aimed at developing a methodological approach to creating a conception of process-oriented management of the economic potential of enterprise and identifying the main factors and conditions that contribute to increasing the efficiency of managing the economic potential of enterprise. The results were obtained using the following methods: analysis and comparison, synthesis and theoretical generalization – for the formation of a theoretical and methodological approach to assessing the economic potential of enterprise; grouping, system analysis – to form conclusions from the carried out research; economic, system and comparative analysis – for the formation of theoretical hypotheses on the diagnosis of the economic potential of enterprise; graphic analysis – for visual display of the results of the research. The author has formed a methodological approach to the creation of the conception of process-oriented management of the economic potential of enterprise. The main methods of assessing the economic potential of enterprise are defined and the system of process-oriented management is formed, as well as the factors of environmental impact on enterprise are determined. Also, the model of process-oriented management of economic potential of enterprises has been developed, which will allow to identify approaches to its assessment and will provide an opportunity to analyze its structural elements in the system taking into account interrelations and interdependences as a whole. The elaborated methodological approach to process-oriented management of economic potential on the basis of the developed model will allow to demonstrate the complex and multifad meaning of the concept of «economic potential»; to demonstrate the need for its research in many directions and at different levels of the hierarchy; to build up a system of indicators of the economic potential of enterprises and analyze its structural elements, as well as to obtain econometric forecast models of scenarios for the development of the economic potential of enterprise.

Introduction. Dismantling of the old economic model of health care as a purely budget organization, which took place under the influence of medical reform in Ukraine, led to a new nature of economic relations, the need for work and development of hospitals as participants in a competitive environment, regional or local health services market, exacerbated the impact of opportunities and threats. Given the uncertainty and dynamism of change, this highlights the need for strategic planning primarily at the level of medical institutions that provide secondary and tertiary (specialized) care to determine priorities and focus resources on achieving their development goals, which requires attention to the scientific and methodological framework ensuring this task.Purpose. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the need for strategic planning for the development of health care facilities in the context of medical reform and to develop recommendations for its implementation in their management.Research methods. In the course of the research the following methods were used: induction and deduction, system analysis - to determine the components of strategic planning at the level of health care, PEST analysis - to identify factors influencing the development of health care and factors that indicate the need to implement strategic planning in the hospital management system, institutional and comparative analysis - to identify features of strategic planning models, SWOT-analysis, expert assessments - to assess the internal and external environment of the organization, setting goals and strategic priorities.Results. Based on the analysis of the theoretical basis, the author’s approach to the interpretation of the essential characteristics of strategic planning of health care facilities is formed. The current state of the internal and external environment of health care facilities that provide secondary care in the context of health care reform in Ukraine is assessed, problems are identified. The planning system in medical institutions of this type is analyzed. The factors of actualization of the problem of implementation of strategic planning at the present stage are revealed and the necessity of its implementation in management of health care institutions is proved. Based on empirical evaluation conducted using the methods of expert collective commission, SPEIS-analysis, SWOT-analysis, the strengths and weaknesses of modern hospitals, opportunities and threats, the degree of probability and importance of the impact of opportunities and threats on the development of medical institutions, critical issues, the mission is specified, the main strategic goals and priorities are defined. An algorithm for the implementation of strategic planning in hospital management, a system of strategies and their content characteristics is proposed.Perspectives. Further research is needed on organizational design related to the implementation of strategies of medical institutions, organization of strategies, overcoming resistance to changes related to the implementation of strategies, training staff to work in new conditions, the use of other management actions aimed at building a perfect mechanism strategic planning.

政府宣布解除戒嚴，不僅開啟兩岸交流亦促進兩岸人民的通婚，加上老兵滯留在大陸前配偶團聚的問題，政府制定臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例以為規範，由於通婚人數的快速成長，衍生大陸配偶來臺人流管理問題，而人權議題隨著民主意識的高漲，歷經兩岸「試溫探索」、「緩進改善」與「和平穩健」等三階段的過程，對大陸配偶來臺相關權益問題，針對兩岸人民關係條例進行了多次的增刪修法，期能兼顧人民福祉與國家安全雙贏的局面。 本文以馬政府執政後，為踐履「新移民來台灣共同生活，就是正港台灣人」、「禁止歧視新移民」、「廢除婚姻移民歸化與永久居留的財力證明」、「保障婚姻移民享有完整的工作權與社會權」、「婚姻移民的查察、驅逐與收容應符合正當程序」及「促進多元文化」的競選政見，逐步分階段修正兩岸人民關係條例，我政府於2009年並簽署「公民與政治權利國際公約」及「經濟社會文化權利國際公約」，將我政府對大陸配偶之移民政策，朝向更符合國際人權之方向修正，促使我政府更朝向「尊重移民人權」之路邁進，為我們內文所要研究。 本研究考證分析係運用歷史研究途徑，採取文獻分析法與深度訪談法及分析比較法，並參考政府機關資料、期刊、學者專論、報章、雜誌及網路資料，及蒐集世界各國婚姻移民制度之比較，針對馬總統執政前、後涉及大陸配偶的相關權益增刪修法過程作一敘述。同時就修法後與大陸配偶權益相關部分，擇定大陸配偶、臺灣配偶、臺灣配偶家屬、社工與執法人員及專家學者進行深度訪談，從不同立場與角度的受訪者，進行統計分析，藉以瞭解彼等對政府修法的感受與未來的需求。最後再將訪談結果撰述個人研究結論，提出理論反省與建議，作為本論文之總結。 本研究主題發現如下：(一)馬政府執政後相關大陸配偶權益政策的定位(二)大陸配偶參政權與身分權的爭議(三)尊重與融合大陸配偶的心態調整(四)落實大陸配偶相關政策法令之宣導(五)保證人具保制度影響大陸配偶權益(六)管制手段仍須嚴格。研究建議：(一) 建立兩岸婚姻制度的衡平性(二)簡化大陸配偶具保制度(三)放寬大陸配偶參政權(四)落實家戶訪查簡化面談手續。