Slave States: The Practice of Kafala in the Gulf Arab Region

by Yasin Kakande

A stark expose of the enslavement, trafficking, sexual starvation and general abuse of workers in the Gulf Arab Region.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 2015

Reviews

[Yngve Skogstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all of the injustice, terrorism and authoritarianism springing from the GCC countries, the kafala system should be front and centre of our critique of their regimes. Essentially a modern form of slavery, kafala is a system whereby every immigrant coming into the country to work has to have either a citizen or a company as a “sponsor”. The citizen/company now has total legal control of the immigrant, seizes their passport (even though this by law is not allowed), and can dispose of the immigrant whenever they want to without specifying any reason, thus cancelling the immigrant’s visa and leading to immediate deportation. If you manage to escape deportation you become an undocumented migrant, vulnerable to the burgeoning trade of human trafficking.

Yasin Kakande, as an Ugandan immigrant and journalist in the UAE and Qatar, is perfectly situated to document how this system functions, both on the macro down towards the micro level. I don’t think anyone with a passport from “the West” could have written this.

Throughout this book, I was thinking that this topic is in desperate need of a Marxist analysis, and I’m sure it already has been, I just haven’t read it yet. In a sense you almost have to give it to them, these failson royals and elites in the Gulf Arab states, that they have managed to construct and maintain a social order with such insane amounts of exploitation and enslavement of the majority of the countries’ population (though not citizens) without the people revolting.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering (and depressing) look at the shameful system of Kafala used throughout the Gulf countries. Although the book would have benefited from more editing (the narrative is at times disjointed) its value as a memoir is enormous.

It should be mandatory reading for anybody thinking about seeking employment in the Gulf.

[Raya Al-Raddadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

كاتب صحفي يكتب عن تجربته في الخليج (الإمارات وقطر بالتحديد) وعن الظلم والاضطهاد الذي تعرض له بسبب نظام الكفالة. يذكر الكاتب الكثير من قصص العمالة التي صادفها أو قرأ عنها أثناء إقامته بالخليج وكيف أدى نشره لتجربته إلى ترحيله فورا من الإمارات.