Leading UN human rights experts on issues of slavery, migration, and human trafficking worldwide have urged Saudi Arabia on April 29 to effectively abolish the kafala (sponsorship) system, an abusive system ties workers to their sponsors for their residency and work permits. Despite Saudi authorities’ Labor Reform Initiative in 2021 and the narrative Saudi leaders have cultivated around migrant worker welfare, experts have highlighted that exploitation has persisted, including unaccountable deaths, wage theft, workplace violence, retention of identity documents, and exorbitant recruitment fees.
This aligns with Human Rights Watch’s research finding that, despite several waves of labor reforms including the Labor Reform Initiative, migrant workers continue to face widespread abuse across employment sectors and geographic regions. Numerous migrant workers still experience conditions that amount to forced labor; this includes workers employed in high profile mega- and giga-projects funded by or linked to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Human Rights Watch research has also found migrant workers die due to avoidable work-place accidents; their deaths are erroneously classified as “natural” and are neither investigated nor compensated. As UN experts have rightly pointed out, these vulnerabilities are further exacerbated during times of crisis, such as the current regional conflict, when migrant workers faced heightened risks of job losses, injuries and deaths.
Despite evidence from trade unions, human rights groups, and UN bodies documenting Saudi Arabia’s severe lapses in labor rights enforcement, officials continue to defend these ineffective reforms while disregarding substantial evidence of abuses and calls for change. Saudi authorities have dismissed reports by rights groups on the grounds that victim accounts are anonymized, while failing to provide their own evidence that claimed reforms are being implemented and have made meaningful improvements in workers’ lives.
Saudi authorities attempted to close a recent complaint filed by African trade unions against the state for not adhering to its binding commitment in relation to several International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions in the 356th Session of the Governing Body in March 2026. The Governing Body has deferred its review of Saudi Arabia’s request for dismissal to November 2026.
Officials’ refusal to engage with evidence risks misrepresenting migrant workers’ realities, weakens accountability, and sends hiring companies the message that they do not need to make meaningful reforms. Saudi authorities should act on the recommendations from the UN experts and other organizations to abolish the kafala system and fully enforce all announced reforms.
