[7] Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top ten countries accommodating the largest migrant populations in the world, occupying fourth and fifth place respectively.
The first wave concerns migration to the GCC region prior to the British arrival in the so-called Trucial States, being modern-day Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE, in 1820.
[13] The British interest in the Persian Gulf region is often explained by the fact that Great Britain wanted to protect the sea route to India from rival colonial powers.
[14] The Hawalas, or Arabs who returned from Persia due to persecution of Sunnis play important roles in the pearl industry as craftsmen, merchants, and sailors.
Indian merchant communities, albeit few in numbers, controlled imports such as foodstuff and functioned as economic middlemen between wealthy sheikhs who sourced pearls and European buyers.
[18][19] Thus Asia, and specifically India, became the obvious solution for the GCC countries, considering the historical ties, the geographical proximity and the abundance of workers willing to migrate to the Gulf region.
[25] Further, the Omani leadership carried out extensive deportations of undocumented migrants in 2010, resulting in the return of approximately 70.000 people to their respective countries of origin.
[31] Employment possibilities in the UAE attracted both high, medium and low-skilled workers and, compared to other GCC countries, migrants generally held higher positions, such as manager-positions.
[40] Nevertheless, this problem has solved itself in most GCC states, except Kuwait, even though the segment of portion employed in the public sector remains disproportionally high.
[46] Groups of migrant workers are composed of a variety of nationalities, but are generally united by the fact that the large majority send money to family members and relatives in their respective countries of origin.
However, the work conducted by migrants in the GCC constitutes an important section of the economy in the country of origin, as money is sent home to family members and relatives.
A leading representative of the Consultative Assembly of Oman (Majlis al-Shura) has expressed the essentiality to “tighten our belts and prepare together for the coming challenges.
[76][77][78][79][80] In 2010, the Kuwaiti Minister of Social Affairs and Labor announced that it would abolish the kafala system, requesting the assistance of the ILO on policy issues related to migrant workers.
[80][81] One major change was the creation of an agency, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), which has the sole responsibility for the importation and employment of foreign workers.
[91][92] The 2003 Law also sets conditions for the labor contract, as well as the rights and obligations of both employers and migrant workers, including the provision of medical facilities, suitable means of transport, and a minimum wage by the Council of Ministers.
17 of 2020), allowed migrant workers to change jobs before end of their contract without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from employer, and established a monthly minimum wage of 1,000 Qatari riyal (roughly US$275).
[71][110] Fines, as well as prison sentences, were also introduced for migrant workers who stayed in Saudi Arabia beyond the length of their residency permit and for leaving without the employer's permission.
[76][84][87][88][89] It is reported that migrant workers who do leave without their employer's consent have received punishment in some GCC countries, which can include re-entry bans, fines and deportation.
[118] As seen above, some states, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE,[72][68][66][67][102][121] have announced their commitment to amend the legal framework of the kafala system and to extend labor protection to migrant workers.
In April 2020, it was revealed that, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, migrant workers in Qatar were strictly quarantined by Qatari internal security inside the industrial area.
An open letter by 15 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Migrant Rights.org, urged Doha to take initiatives for the protection of the workforce.
Since May 2021, the nation's legislature had voted to curtail working during high temperatures (above 32.1 °C on the WGBT index), which resulted in a reported decline in heat-related illnesses treated in the country, with 338 businesses apparently being shut down for non-compliance since its enforcement.
[145] In recent years, Gulf states have implemented policies of large-scale deportations of both undocumented and documented migrant workers, for a variety of reasons.
It revealed that in April 2020, Houthi rebels forcefully evicted thousands of Ethiopian migrants from the northern part of Yemen, under the threat of coronavirus.
In the UAE, for example, Dubai courts could not keep up with the number of labor complaints filed – especially around 2008, when the global financial crisis inhibited companies from providing their employees with work or salaries.
In the case of Bahrain, 50 Pakistani workers were detained by the authorities after they filed a complaint with the Bahraini courts concerning a lack of salary payments.
[162] Since Qatar was elected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the country has been heavily criticized for the treatment of migrant workers in the preparations for the tournament.
[165] Amnesty International argues that labor migration to Qatar will continue to increase, due to the World Cup constructions and labels the conditions for workers as "grim".
[168] According to the Guardian’s February 2021 report, around 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the bid for FIFA.
[37] The organisation additionally provides services such as training, legal advice, counseling and temporary shelter for Filipinos who experience abuse from their employers.