How the end of the Kafala System is transforming labor rights and human dignity for Indian migrants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
In June 2025, Saudi Arabia officially proclaimed the end of the Kafala system — a sponsorship regime that had for decades defined the lives of millions of migrant workers across the Kingdom. The announcement, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 blueprint, promised to liberate foreign workers from the yoke of employer dependency. Yet months later, the story has not faded from the news.
Why? Because abolition is only the beginning of transformation. As Saudi ministries roll out new digital platforms for contract registration, worker mobility, and dispute redressal, journalists and analysts are asking whether this reform has truly altered lived realities. Has freedom on paper become freedom in practice?
Indian newspapers and Gulf outlets continue to revisit the theme — Business Standard and NDTV highlight improved job-transfer approvals but persistent recruitment exploitation; Al Jazeera and Saudi Gazette report on the uneven reach of grievance mechanisms. For India, with nearly 2.6 million migrants in Saudi Arabia — primarily from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Telangana — the reform’s trajectory directly affects livelihoods, remittances, and national policy.
Thus, even as the Kafala decree dates back to June, its consequences remain immediate. The story endures because it is no longer a headline — it is an unfolding experiment in redefining human dignity through labour governance.
Beyond Legal Reform — A Human Turn in Migration Politics
The abolition of Kafala marks a watershed moment in global labour mobility. For decades, the system had institutionalized asymmetry — granting employers total control over foreign workers’ mobility, employment, and residency. Its dismantling represents not merely a legislative reform but a philosophical shift from control to contract, from sponsorship to sovereignty.
For India, this transformation intersects economics, diplomacy, and morality. The Kingdom remains a critical labour destination, hosting over 2.5 million Indians who remit billions annually. The reform thus becomes a dual opportunity: to enhance human security abroad and economic resilience at home.
Historical Background: The Architecture of Control
The Kafala system emerged in the 1950s, designed to manage the influx of foreign workers during the Gulf’s oil boom. Under its terms, a migrant’s legal residence depended entirely on a local sponsor (kafeel), who controlled job changes, exit permissions, and legal documentation. While the model facilitated rapid industrialisation, it entrenched structural dependency.
For Indian migrants, particularly those from economically vulnerable states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, Kafala often meant living in legal precarity. Workers in construction and domestic service endured long hours, wage delays, and confiscated passports. Men from Kerala — the traditional backbone of Gulf migration — sent remittances home that uplifted entire districts but often at great personal cost. The system made migrants simultaneously indispensable and invisible.
The 2025 Reform: Vision 2030 and the Unmaking of Kafala
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is more than an economic reform agenda; it is a socio-political rebranding project. In March 2025, the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development formally enacted new labour regulations, culminating in the June 2025 abolition of Kafala.
Under the new framework, migrant workers can:
- Change employers without sponsor approval;
- Renew residency permits independently;
- Exit and re-enter the country without exit visas;
- Access digital platforms for contract validation and complaints.
This structural liberalization aims to create a competitive labour market, attract skilled global talent, and improve Saudi Arabia’s human-rights standing internationally. However, as The Guardian and Al Jazeera observed, the reform’s success will depend on enforcement — dismantling the culture of control built over half a century.
Economic Ripples: From Remittances to Resilience
The end of Kafala has vast economic implications for India. According to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief (2025), India received over USD 135 billion in remittances — with a significant share from Saudi Arabia. Enhanced job mobility and transparent contracts will likely boost wages, reduce wage theft, and strengthen remittance stability.
This evolution could shift India’s remittance economy from dependency to dynamism. Workers able to negotiate better contracts may upskill, transition into higher-wage sectors, and contribute to productivity gains in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 projects. In turn, these remittances fuel rural development, education, and healthcare in Indian districts most reliant on Gulf earnings.
Moreover, the formalization of employment through digital contract systems could curtail recruitment malpractices — a chronic problem in India’s emigration economy. The challenge now is domestic: India must regulate recruitment fees, digitalize emigration processes, and align skill certifications through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with Saudi Arabia’s sectoral requirements.
Social and Cultural Transformation: Restoring Human Dignity
Freedom in employment transforms not only the worker’s life but their social ecosystem. Under Kafala, the migrant often became an anonymous figure—overworked, underpaid, and unseen. Its abolition restores a measure of dignity and agency, allowing workers to exercise choice and self-determination.
This shift carries profound gendered implications. For Indian women domestic workers, particularly from southern states, the ability to leave exploitative employers represents liberation from conditions bordering on servitude. As Saudi Arabia simultaneously liberalizes women’s participation in the workforce, a new narrative of gender parity begins to emerge.
At the familial level, reduced exploitation means emotional stability. Children of migrant workers in Kerala and Telangana can now anticipate steady parental support and educational continuity. The reform thus transcends economics — it advances human development, reinforces gender equality, and embodies egalitarianism in practice.
Political and Diplomatic Dimensions: The Rise of Labour Diplomacy
The end of Kafala reconfigures India–Saudi relations within a broader framework of strategic and ethical interdependence. Labour has historically been the soft underbelly of bilateral engagement, overshadowed by energy and trade. Now, with workers gaining legal autonomy, India has the opportunity to institutionalize labour diplomacy as a central pillar of foreign policy.
A Joint India–Saudi Labour Implementation Council (JLIC) could oversee contract standardization, worker welfare audits, and social insurance portability. Such mechanisms would deepen trust and ensure that reforms do not remain symbolic.
Regionally, this proactive engagement could extend across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — positioning India as a moral and pragmatic leader in ethical migration governance. Domestically, it will require coordination between the Ministry of External Affairs, state governments, and private recruitment networks to protect migrants from illegal intermediaries.
Human Security and Rights: A Broader Philosophical Shift
At its essence, the reform is not merely about employment; it is about human security — the freedom to live without fear, want, or humiliation. Migrant protection is now integral to the global human-rights discourse. Saudi Arabia’s new policies, if implemented effectively, align with the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers.
For India, this alignment elevates moral standing. It shows that development diplomacy can coexist with humanism — that a rising nation safeguards not only its GDP but its citizens’ dignity abroad. The Kafala abolition thereby strengthens both social security in particular and human security in general — affirming India’s commitment to inclusive and rights-based global engagement.
A Reform that Redefines Civilization
The abolition of the Kafala system is not the end of a story; it is the beginning of a civilizational correction. It replaces coercion with consent, dependence with dignity, and transactional labour with ethical cooperation. For India, it is both an economic boon and a moral test.
If New Delhi and Riyadh sustain this reform through monitoring, training, and joint policy design, the transformation will echo beyond labour markets — it will redefine what it means to work, migrate, and belong in the 21st century. The Indian migrant, once an invisible builder of foreign skylines, may now stand as a visible agent of human progress — not merely remitting income, but embodying a global ideal of freedom, equality, and shared humanity.
In the long arc of global politics, the end of Kafala will be remembered not only as Saudi Arabia’s reform but as a shared human triumph — a moment when nations chose dignity over dominance and built a new moral foundation for globalization itself.
_________________
References
- Business Standard. “Saudi Arabia Ends Kafala System: What Changes for 2.6 Million Indians.” October 22, 2025.
- NDTV World News. “Saudi Arabia Scraps Kafala Labour System; Who Are Kafeels?” October 2025.
- Al Jazeera. “Saudi Arabia Announces Changes to the Kafala System.” March 14, 2021; updated 2025 implementation report.
- The Guardian. “Saudi Arabia Ends System Tying Foreign Workers to Employers.” July 2025.
- Saudi Gazette. “Labour Reform Initiative: Towards an Open Market.” Riyadh, June 2025.
- Human Rights Watch. “Working Like a Robot: Migrant Labour and Reform in the Gulf.” 2024–25.
- World Bank. Migration and Development Brief 2025. Washington, D.C.
- ILO Regional Office for Arab States. Reforming Kafala: Policy Lessons and Labour Protections in the GCC.
- Arab News. “Vision 2030 and Labour Market Modernization.” June 2025.
- Middle East Eye. “Saudi Arabia’s Labour Reforms Face Implementation Challenges.” August 2025.
- Walk Free Foundation. “Saudi Arabia Ends the Kafala System to Strengthen Worker Rights.” October 2025.
- Ministry of External Affairs (India). India–Saudi Labour and Remittance Statistics.
__________________________________________________________
Dr Maheep is a leading analyst of India’s foreign policy and an expert of International Relations and Global Politics. He was recently honoured by the Government of Iran as a distinguished scholar in recognition of his significant intellectual endeavours toward the grand ideal of the New Islamic Civilization. He contributes regularly on issues pertaining to national and global affairs.