Saudi Arabia Abolishes Kafala, Granting Freedom to 500,000 Bangladeshi Workers

 In a historic move hailed by global human rights organizations, Saudi Arabia has officially dismantled its decades-old Kafala (sponsorship) system, replacing the restrictive framework with a modern, contract-based employment model. The landmark reform, which took effect in June 2025, grants unprecedented labor mobility and legal protections to the Kingdom's vast foreign workforce, profoundly changing the lives of over 13 million migrant laborers, including hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis.

The Impact on Bangladeshi Workers

While the initial focus of the reforms often centered on large communities like India, the Bangladeshi diaspora stands as one of the single largest groups set to benefit. Up-to-date figures indicate that over 498,000 Bangladeshi nationals migrated to Saudi Arabia for employment in 2023 alone, contributing significantly to the construction, service, and crucial domestic work sectors. This vast population now stands to gain fundamental rights long denied under the old system.

Under the new framework, these workers will be granted the ability to:

•  Change Employers without needing the current sponsor's (or kafeel’s) permission.
•  Leave the Country without requiring an exit visa or employer consent.
•  Access Labor Courts and grievance mechanisms more freely to report violations and seek justice.

A Legacy of Exploitation and Abuse

The abolition of Kafala directly addresses a system widely condemned as a form of "modern-day slavery." For Bangladeshi workers, particularly women in domestic service, the system created an extreme power imbalance that enabled systematic abuse. Reports spanning decades documented horrific instances of exploitation:

• Passport Confiscation: Employers routinely seized passports, trapping workers and preventing them from returning home.
• Wage Theft: Non-payment or severe delays in salary were commonplace, forcing workers into debt bondage.
•  Physical and Sexual Abuse: Female domestic workers often faced isolation, excessive work hours (up to 14-15 hours a day), and the highest rates of physical, mental, and sexual violence.
•  Tragic Outcomes: Data from Bangladeshi agencies highlighted the dire consequences, with reports of high death rates and an alarming number of suicides among female workers due to relentless abuse and lack of recourse.

Because the worker's residency status was tied directly to the kafeel, fleeing abuse meant becoming undocumented, risking imprisonment or immediate deportation, thereby leaving abusers unpunished and unchallenged.

The New Contractual Dawn

This historic reform, a centerpiece of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative to modernize its economy and improve its international image, fundamentally shifts power back to the worker.

By moving to a contract-based system, the government has established a transparent mechanism where labor contracts govern the worker-employer relationship, not the arbitrary will of the sponsor. Experts emphasize that while the legal changes mark a vital breakthrough, vigilant monitoring and robust enforcement are crucial to ensure that deeply entrenched exploitative practices, such as withholding documents or threatening deportation, do not persist at the implementation level.

For nearly half a million Bangladeshis, the end of Kafala represents more than just a legal adjustment—it is the restoration of dignity, freedom, and basic human rights in one of the world's largest labor markets.