Ministry completes study on replacing sponsorship system

April 3, 2012

labour

Jeddah, April 3: The Labor Ministry has completed a study on prospects of canceling the individual kafala (sponsorship) system replacing it with recruitment companies. The move may lead to the nullification of sponsorship system all together at a later stage.

The study, which took five years to complete, included the rules and regulations for the new recruitment companies. “The study will be presented to the Council of Ministers shortly for approval,” an informed source told Arab News.

The study proposed the formation of a commission under the Labor Ministry to look into foreign labor issues and put end to the traditional sponsorship system. The commission will be based in Riyadh and will have branches in major cities.

The study advised the government not to hold passports of foreign workers and cancel the condition of obtaining sponsor’s approval for a worker to bring his family to the Kingdom.

According to the new system, an employer would not be responsible for the wrong actions of a foreign worker outside his work. “The new system is designed to protect the rights of both foreign workers and employers,” the source said.

The study proposed introduction of a mandatory insurance scheme to protect financial rights of foreign workers and employers. The scheme, which may act as an effective tool to end the justification for introducing the sponsorship system, would cover the damages caused by a foreign worker, payment of unpaid salaries and provision of air tickets.

The insurance scheme will also protect employers from possible risks such as robbery, embezzlement, damages, leakage of important business information and damages caused by the worker to others.

The recruitment companies will take necessary measures for recruitment of workers required by individuals and for their journey back to their countries if they wanted so. It will also facilitate transfer of workers from one company to another, the source pointed out.

“The details of the new system would be discussed with various government departments before finalizing it,” the source said. “No date has been fixed yet to implement the new system,” he added.

Some analysts said the new system would bring only partial solution to the problem as it addresses only a group of foreign workers such as drivers, maids, private nurses and other house servants.

Khaled Aburashid, a legal expert, said the new system would benefit foreign workers. The new recruitment firms will be shareholding companies and their boards of directors will include a member from the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) to make sure they protect the rights of workers in accordance with the Labor Law.

However, NSHR officials feared that the new system would bring only structural changes. The sponsorship system was introduced in the Kingdom about 60 years ago in 1371H and the world has changed a lot during this period, including labor rules.

Dr. Hussein Al-Sharief, president of NSHR, urged the government to take into consideration an 80-page study prepared by his organization on the cancelation of the sponsorship system correcting the relationship between the worker and employer. “Our study has taken into consideration the rights of both workers and employers,” he pointed out.

Some aspects of the present sponsorship system go against the Shariah and contradict international agreements related to human rights, Al-Sharief said, citing matters such as holding passports of foreign workers by the employer and the difficulty in transfer of sponsorship from one employer to another.

The Council of Ministers issued a decision No. 166 in 1421H calling for organizing the relationship between the foreign worker and employer within the framework of a work contract. It emphasized the need to replace sponsorship and sponsor with work contract and employer in the residency and labor laws. Although the Cabinet adopted the decision eight years ago many government departments still have not yet implemented it. This delay has affected the Kingdom’s international reputation and triggered a lot of complaints from foreign workers.

There are about eight million foreign workers from 120 countries in the Kingdom.

Sharief Awad Al-Hobailey, CEO of Jeddah Center for Law and Arbitration, said wrong implementation of the existing sponsorship system was the reason for many problems. “If the sponsor and the foreign worker had abide by its rules the picture would have been different and much better,” he added.

Ahmed Al-Yahya, a former ministry undersecretary and an expert in labor issues, said the International Labor Organization (ILO) criticized the sponsorship system in Gulf countries with regard to workers’ rights. “We should study legal, security and social aspects before taking a decision to cancel the sponsorship system,” he said.


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News Network
March 28,2025

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Millions of people across Iran and the world took to the streets on International Quds Day, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and head of the Intifada Committee in Tehran, stated that rallies began at 10:00 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) in over 900 cities across Iran.

Demonstrators from various walks of life carried Iranian and Palestinian flags, as well as banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Al-Quds Must Be Liberated.” Flags of regional resistance groups, including Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Sha'abi), Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Ansarullah, were also displayed.

Mass rallies were held across West Asia, including in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, as well as in other parts of the world.

Iranian Leaders Condemn Western Stance

Senior Iranian officials participated in the rally in Tehran, where Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf addressed the gathering.

“Iranians have taken to the streets in a massive show of support for Palestine and the Islamic Ummah,” Qalibaf said. “The Palestinian struggle is not just an issue for the Islamic world but a lesson for all of humanity.”

He criticized the West’s response to Israeli actions in Gaza, calling it a stain on Western civilization. “These crimes will be remembered as a lasting ignominy, exposing the West’s duplicity in human rights advocacy,” he added.

Qalibaf also defended the October 7, 2023, Palestinian attack on Israeli-occupied territories, describing Operation al-Aqsa Flood as a “rightful and legitimate response to 77 years of oppression by Israel, the U.S., and Britain.” He further described Israel as a “spare regime” dependent on U.S. support.

Quds Day: A Global Symbol of Resistance

Al-Quds Day, observed annually on the last Friday of Ramadan, was established in 1979 by the late Imam Khomeini to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and oppose Israeli occupation. The event has since become a symbol of resistance, with large rallies held worldwide, particularly amid Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

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News Network
April 4,2025

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Israel has announced the launch of a new ground onslaught in Gaza City, with rescuers saying military aggression has killed at least 30 people across the Palestinian territory since dawn.

In Gaza City, the Israeli military said ground troops had begun pushing into the Shejaiya neighborhood to expand the so-called "security zone" there, claiming that civilians had been allowed to evacuate the area. 

Initial reports, however, said a Palestinian woman and her daughter were just killed in an Israeli artillery shelling on displaced people in Shejaiya.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli military aggression had killed at least 30 people in the Palestinian territory since dawn, adding that the toll was "not final".

A single Israeli strike on Khan Yunis killed at least 25 people, a medical source at the southern city's Nasser Hospital said. 

"The situation is very dangerous, and there is death coming at us from every direction," Elena Halas told AFP reportedly via text message, adding that she and her family were trapped in her sister's house in Shejaiya.

Israel has pushed since the collapse of a short-lived truce in the war to seize territory in Gaza. Simultaneously, it has escalated attacks on Lebanon and Syria, with a strike in the south Lebanese city of Sidon killing a Hamas commander along with his son on Friday. 

Minister of military affairs Israel Katz had said on Wednesday that Israel would bolster its military presence inside the Gaza Strip to "seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones", without specifying how much territory.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was dividing Gaza and "seizing territory" to force Hamas to free the remaining captives seized in the October 2023 operation inside southern settlements. 

Netanyahu has said his regime is working closely with the US to implement President Donald Trump's plan to displace Gazans.

Latest air raids have targeted Gaza City, as well as Beit Lahia, Rafah, and Khan Yunis, killing dozens of people and injuring several others.

On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah. 

A day after declaring their intention to capture large swathes of the crowded territory, Israeli forces pushed into the city on Gaza's southern edge which had served as a last refuge for people fleeing other areas for much of the war.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Thursday that 112 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes, with at least 70 of those deaths taking place in Gaza City, in the north of the strip. 

Gaza's civil defense agency said women and children were among the dead, while six people were still unaccounted for in the strike on Dar al-Arqam School in the al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City, including a pregnant woman who was expecting twins. 

Beit Hanoun Mayor Mohammad Nazek Al-Kafarna was one of the victims of the Israeli strike that hit the school on Thursday.

The Health Ministry said on Thursday that 1,163 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed intense bombing on March 18, bringing the overall death toll since the war began to 50,523.

The usurping entity accepted longstanding negotiation terms by the Hamas resistance group under a Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19.

On March 18, however, Israel unilaterally broke the truce and resumed its relentless bombing of Gaza.

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News Network
March 30,2025

Eid al-Fitr 2025 was marked with grand celebrations across the Middle East, as millions of Muslims came together to pray, feast, and rejoice. However, amid the festivities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, Gaza stood in mourning. The ongoing conflict and devastation in Palestine turned what is usually a time of joy into a period of sorrow and survival for many Palestinians. While some regions witnessed fireworks and public gatherings, Gaza endured airstrikes, hunger, and loss, painting a stark contrast to the celebrations elsewhere.

eidmiddleast.jpg
Muslims attend mass Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 30, 2025

Gaza: Eid Amid Destruction and Mourning

In Gaza, the usual festive spirit of Eid was shattered by grief and destruction. Israeli airstrikes claimed the lives of several civilians, including women and children, leaving families mourning rather than rejoicing.

The usually vibrant markets of Gaza, once filled with people buying sweets and new clothes for Eid, remained eerily silent. Many families had no food to prepare the traditional celebratory meals, as ongoing blockades and supply shortages have left residents struggling for survival.

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Saudi Arabia: Grand Celebrations Despite Regional Tensions

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United Arab Emirates: A Festival of Luxury and Giving

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Qatar: A Blend of Joy and Concern

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Nevertheless, Qatari authorities and charities continued their relief efforts for Palestine, highlighting the contrast between the joyous Eid atmosphere at home and the suffering of their fellow Muslims in Gaza.

Kuwait: Extended Holidays and Reflection

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A Tale of Two Realities

Eid al-Fitr 2025 presented a stark contrast between different parts of the Muslim world. While countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait indulged in celebrations, Gaza stood in ruins, mourning its dead and struggling to find basic resources.

The divide between those celebrating and those suffering was more evident than ever, making this Eid a time of reflection for many Muslims worldwide. The call for peace and justice in Palestine echoed throughout sermons and speeches, reminding the world that while the spirit of Eid is about joy and gratitude, it is also about unity, compassion, and standing with those in need.

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