Labour sponsorship system under review

Labour best practices are being honed by Gulf states. The National

Government representatives from the six GCC states will gather in Kuwait today to discuss alternatives to the labour sponsorship system.

Under the current set-up in most of the region, foreign workers or professionals must have a local sponsor if they intend to work or open a business in the region. Political figures within the UAE, as well as some companies and workers, have already called for changes to the status quo.

Bahrain passed legislation in May to abolish its system and Kuwait is studying a proposal to do likewise.

Not having a sponsorship system offers greater labour mobility, giving workers the ability to move more freely between companies.

Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, the UAE Minister of Labour, in November ruled out the possibility of scrapping sponsorship but has pledged to reform the system.

The meeting in Kuwait is part of a workshop organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental labour watchdog. Ministry of Labour officials will hear about labour best practices from the GCC and other regions.

Recent reforms to labour laws in the region have been aimed at reducing the potential for exploitation of workers by unscrupulous recruiters and employers, says the IOM.

The reforms are also meant to ensure a smoother functioning of labour markets.

Out of a total of 214 million migrants and foreign workers across the world, as estimated by the IOM, 15.1 million reside in GCC countries, up 19 per cent since 2005.

Temporary contract workers are estimated to represent 70 per cent of the UAE population and more than two thirds of Qatar's population. In Kuwait, contract workers comprise 69 per cent of the population.