Saudi Arabia ends Kafala system: What changes for 2.6 mn Indian migrants

Saudi Arabia has announced the end of its decades-old Kafala system, a controversial labour sponsorship model that controlled the lives of millions of migrant workers for more than seventy years.

- SURBHI GLORIA SINGH

The reform, unveiled in June 2025, is one of the most sweeping changes to the Gulf’s labour framework and is expected to directly benefit around 13 million foreign workers. Among them are more than 2.6 million Indians, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

What was the Kafala system?

The word Kafala, meaning “sponsorship” in Arabic, referred to a structure in which a local employer, or Kafeel, took legal responsibility for a foreign worker’s visa and residency. Introduced in the 1950s during the region’s oil boom, it was initially a way to regulate the growing flow of labour from abroad.

Why was it considered abusive?