End of Kafala in Saudi Arabia and new horizon of human security for Indian migrants
When Saudi Arabia formally abolished its decades-old Kafala sponsorship system in June 2025, the decision marked not only an administrative reform but the symbolic end of an era of dependency that had defined the lives of millions of migrant workers in the Gulf. The move, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 blueprint, promised to dismantle the structures of control that had long subordinated workers to their employers and to create a more transparent, contract-based labour regime. For India, whose citizens form one of the largest migrant communities in Saudi Arabia, this change carried deep economic, social, cultural and moral significance. Yet the issue continues to occupy headlines months after its announcement because, as commentators across Saudi Gazette, Al Jazeera, Business Standard, NDTV, and India Today have noted, abolition is only the first act—the real question is whether freedom on paper has translated into freedom in practice.
For decades the Kafala system governed the recruitment, employment, and residence of foreign workers across the Gulf. A worker’s legal status was tied to a single employer, whose consent was required to change jobs, leave the country, or even renew residency. While the arrangement had helped the Gulf States manage their rapid economic expansion during the oil boom, it also institutionalised vulnerability. Migrants from India’s poorer states—Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana—often found themselves trapped in exploitative conditions, their passports withheld, wages delayed, and mobility curtailed. Many endured hardship in silence, sustaining their families back home through remittances that underwrote India’s rural economies and balanced its foreign-exchange reserves.
The June 2025 reform promised to reverse this order. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced that foreign workers could now change employers, renew residency permits, and exit the country without sponsor approval. The reform aims to create a more competitive labour market, attract skilled professionals, and align the Kingdom’s labour policies with international human-rights standards. Yet dismantling a system so deeply embedded in social and bureaucratic practice requires more than decrees; it demands sustained monitoring, legal literacy, and cultural adaptation within both government and industry.
For India, the stakes are immense. More than 2.6 million Indians live and work in Saudi Arabia, and their remittances—part of the roughly 135 billion USD India received in FY 2024-25—form a lifeline for millions of families. When workers gain autonomy and protection, their capacity to earn and remit improves, and the benefits ripple across villages and towns. Children remain in school longer, health outcomes improve, and small-scale entrepreneurship flourishes. A fairer labour market abroad thus becomes a tool of human development at home. But to convert this potential into measurable progress, India must adapt its own systems. Recruitment must be regulated to prevent excessive fees and fraudulent contracts; emigration processes should be digitised and transparent; and skill-training programmes under the National Skill Development Corporation need to align with Saudi Arabia’s evolving sectoral demands.
The human dimension of the reform is equally profound. For countless Indian workers who endured years of subordination, the right to choose their employer or to return home without coercion represents a long-delayed recognition of personhood. It reaffirms that economic necessity should never negate human dignity. The change carries special meaning for women domestic workers, many from southern India, whose isolation and dependence made them especially vulnerable under Kafala. Their new mobility and access to legal redress mark a step toward gender equality and safety in a sphere historically marked by invisibility. When women gain agency abroad, it reverberates within families and communities, strengthening social confidence and altering long-standing gender hierarchies.
The end of Kafala also redefines the diplomatic grammar of India–Saudi relations. Labour migration, once a low-profile aspect of bilateral ties overshadowed by energy and defence cooperation, now stands as a test of mutual responsibility. A proactive Indian policy—anchored in continuous dialogue, transparent contract management, and welfare mechanisms—could transform the relationship into a model of ethical partnership. Establishing a Joint India–Saudi Labour Implementation Council to monitor contracts, ensure grievance redress, and design social-insurance portability would institutionalise this new understanding. By engaging Riyadh constructively, New Delhi can project itself as a leader in ethical migration governance across the entire Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), demonstrating that the protection of citizens abroad is an integral component of strategic diplomacy.
At a deeper level, the reform reflects a shift in the global conversation about human security. The idea that economic growth must be accompanied by freedom from exploitation is not new, but the Saudi decision gives it fresh urgency. It affirms that human security encompasses not only physical safety but also dignity, equality, and opportunity. The reform aligns with international frameworks such as the United Nations Global Compact for Migration and the International Labour Organization’s conventions on domestic and migrant workers. For India, engaging with these norms strengthens its moral credibility and situates its foreign policy within a Universalist ethic—echoing its civilisational principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the belief that the world is one family.
Ultimately, the abolition of Kafala is both a pragmatic and a moral milestone. For Saudi Arabia, it enhances global confidence in its reforms under Vision 2030; for India, it provides the opportunity to secure better conditions for its citizens and to reaffirm its leadership in humane globalisation. If the reform is implemented conscientiously—supported by bilateral cooperation, effective regulation, and vigilant diplomacy—it will stand as evidence that modernisation need not come at the cost of humanity. It will mark a turning point where labour ceases to be transactional and becomes relational, rooted in justice and respect.
In this light, the end of Kafala is not just the conclusion of a restrictive legal regime; it is the beginning of a new moral architecture in the politics of migration. The Indian worker in Riyadh or Jeddah is no longer an invisible cog in an economic machine but a participant in a shared human endeavour linking two ancient civilisations in the twenty-first century. The reform thus transforms a legal adjustment into a moral narrative—one that unites economic pragmatism with the timeless pursuit of dignity.
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Dr. Maheep
Dr. Maheep is Director, Indian Perspective on Global Affairs (IPGA), and a leading analyst of India’s foreign policy and South Asian geopolitics. He earned his PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies. With more than a decade of teaching and research experience in International Relations and Global Politics, he contributes regularly on issues shaping national and global affairs.
