The Political Economy of the Kafala Abolishment in Saudi Arabia

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1641-4233.29.05

Keywords:

Kafala abolishment, Vision 2030, Saudi Vision 2030, Kafala Reform in Saudi Arabia, political economy of Kafala, migration policy, labour migration, political economy of migration policy, Kafala system

Abstract

Saudi Arabia – an oil-rich rentier state, receives a large number of guest workers, and they were maintained under the controversial Kafala system. Recently, Saudi Arabia announced to abolish this system to come into effect in March 2021, but excluded domestic workers. Such observations show that there are political-economic incentives for the authority in abolishment apart from the humanitarian ground. Again, the current regime is willing to reduce its dependency on oil by diversifying its economy. Crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman announced massive reform plan – “Saudi Vision 2030” – to bolster FDIs and develop the public sector and service industries, where they need skilled labourers and experts to run their economy, where Kafala is not suitable. In this context, this paper would like to follow the political economy of migration policy as an analytical framework to provide a political-economic analysis of Kafala abolishment in Saudi Arabia by looking at the current transformation and Kafala abolishment.

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Author Biography

Md. Mufassir Rashid, The KRF Center for Bangladesh and Global Affairs (CBGA)

Mufassir Rashid – MD Mufassir is currently working as a Research Associate at the KRF center for Bangladesh and Global Affairs (CBGA). Prior to that, he has completed his BSS in International Relations from the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has also completed his MSS from the same department with a specialization in International Political Economy.

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Published

2024-01-16 — Updated on 2024-02-20

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How to Cite

Rashid, M. M. (2024). The Political Economy of the Kafala Abolishment in Saudi Arabia. International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal, 29(1), 69–83. https://doi.org/10.18778/1641-4233.29.05 (Original work published January 16, 2024)

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