The film “The Goat Life,” an Indian drama inspired by a true story, has caused a significant stir since its release due to its sensitive portrayal of the kafala system in Gulf countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The film follows an Indian migrant worker named “Najeeb,” who travels to Saudi Arabia in search of a better life and an opportunity to secure his family’s future. However, he is deceived and exploited by his sponsor, who takes him to the barren desert to work as a shepherd under harsh conditions.
Najeeb spends many years in slavery, enduring beatings and deprivation of food and water. He repeatedly tries to escape without success, with the film powerfully depicting Najeeb’s psychological and physical suffering and how he managed to survive under these harsh conditions.
The Gulf Center for Development Policies explained in a research paper that the kafala system, as practiced in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, places the sponsor under legal responsibility for the workers they bring until their return to their home countries. The essence of the kafala system lies in delegating state authority over the expatriate’s right to enter and work in the country to the citizen employer. This system originated during the British colonial era in the Gulf, beginning in Bahrain and then Kuwait in the 1920s (1928) to the 1970s, and later spread to other Gulf countries.
The film was met with widespread rejection from some Saudis who saw it as an attempt by competing countries to tarnish the reputation of the Saudi government. However, numerous testimonials emerged on social media platforms, highlighting the anger of workers who had previously experienced working in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia, describing the difficulties they faced due to the kafala system.
The Kafala System in Saudi Arabia: Between Artistic Criticism and Human Rights Concerns
After the release of “The Goat Life,” many Egyptians expressed their anger on social media towards the head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh, who previously sought to produce a film depicting Egyptians as scammers. Others felt that the film accurately depicted the “enslaving” kafala system that dehumanizes workers. On the other hand, some Egyptians criticized the filmmakers, calling the portrayal exaggerated, arguing that every work system has its pros and cons and that Saudis remain Arab brothers. In response, Adel Hanafi, Vice President of the General Federation of Egyptians in Saudi Arabia, stated that the Kingdom treats all expatriates humanely.
In a related context, film critic Magda Khairallah noted that the success of “The Goat Life” was due to its strong narrative and cohesive artistic vision, as it depicted the illegal enslavement of a worker and the violation of his rights and humanity. She added that the value of the artistic work lies in its positive impact on society. She emphasized, “The film should be evaluated based on its artistic merits rather than being linked to Turki Al-Sheikh’s attempts to make Saudi Arabia a hub for art production. The Kingdom has the right to improve its image and rid itself of the regressive thinking that has hindered its progress.”
This was not the first time widespread criticism arose regarding the treatment of expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia. Both local and international human rights organizations have issued reports condemning the practices of the kafala system, which is accused of facilitating the exploitation of expatriate workers and human trafficking.
In 2019, a report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor indicated that Saudi authorities had made decisions that contributed to the deterioration of the living and working conditions of expatriate workers, contrary to international labor standards. This led to a decrease in the number of expatriate workers from 12 million in 2017 to about 10 million in 2019.
The report also highlighted the increase in residency fees, the policy of forced deportation, and the mistreatment in detention centers. It noted that most of what a foreign worker earns in Saudi Arabia is spent on residency fees and basic services, especially since many are deprived of their salaries for extended periods, with residency cards used as leverage to force them to accept harsh working conditions out of fear of deportation.
In 2004, Human Rights Watch warned of the abuses faced by foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, noting that they are subjected to torture and coerced confessions, in addition to unfair trials when accused of crimes. The report described the conditions in which many of these workers live as akin to slavery, with Saudi authorities turning a blind eye to these systematic violations.
In a statement issued last July, the organization confirmed that expatriate workers continue to face restrictions on changing jobs or leaving the country. It explained that workers continue to pay exorbitant recruitment fees, which employers are legally required to bear, and that domestic workers remain among the least protected and most vulnerable to abuse. The organization also warned of the risks of heat stress resulting from working in high temperatures.
Zawia3 spoke with several Egyptian workers who experienced the kafala system in Saudi Arabia and documented their testimonies about their experiences.
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Mohamed Hassan, 34, a baker, traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2012 to work with a Saudi restaurant owner under a formal employment contract. After a period of work, a dispute arose between him and his sponsor, who physically assaulted him and withheld his salary, prompting Hassan to confront him due to his desperate need for money to support his family.
The conflict escalated to the point where the sponsor filed an escape report against Hassan and used his connections in influential positions, leading to Hassan’s unjust imprisonment. Hassan told Zawia3: “The sponsor called my mother, threatening her that I could remain in prison for life, forcing her to beg him to release me and send me back to Cairo.”
Hassan had no choice but to escape from prison after paying a bribe of 75,000 pounds ($1,563) that his family struggled to gather. He managed to flee to Yemen, from where he returned to Egypt, but remained in debt to his family for a year to repay the money they used to help him escape.
Due to the escape, a legal violation was recorded against Hassan. In 2022, he received a new job offer in Saudi Arabia, but when he went to the Saudi embassy in Egypt, he discovered that he was banned from working there because of the previous report and would only be allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage or tourism.
Pay or Deportation: The Reality of Egyptian Workers in Saudi Arabia
According to Saudi labor laws related to work and expatriate labor, working for someone other than the sponsor is a serious legal violation punishable by the cancellation of the expatriate’s residency and deportation, with a ban on re-entering Saudi Arabia for at least two years. The sponsor, the employer, also faces penalties, including suspension for several years and a fine ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 Saudi Riyals ($2,667 to $26,667).
Mahmoud Abdel Hamid, who has been working in construction in Saudi Arabia for four years, works for another entity besides his sponsor. Nevertheless, his sponsor imposes a monthly “protection fee” of 300 Saudi Riyals ($80), collecting the same amount from three other Egyptian workers under his sponsorship who work in different jobs.
Abdel Hamid explains: “Even though I do not work directly with the sponsor who legally represents me before the Saudi government, I am constantly threatened with deportation if I fail to pay the monthly protection fee. The sponsor can simply accuse me of escaping, forcing me to pay to ensure I remain in Saudi Arabia and secure my livelihood.”
The sponsor forces Abdel Hamid to pay the required amount in a roundabout way, by purchasing groceries from a supermarket instead of transferring the money electronically, to avoid detection.
Intissar Badr, a specialist in labor rights issues, commented on Mahmoud Abdel Hamid’s situation and others, saying: “When a worker has to seek employment outside their home country due to difficult economic conditions, they should travel legally from the start by obtaining an official and certified employment contract from the relevant authorities in Egypt. This ensures legal protection if they face any violations, such as being forced to pay protection fees or working under illegal conditions.”
The Law Does Not Protect Workers
Although many Egyptian workers travel to Saudi Arabia with official employment contracts, this has not prevented them from facing cruelty and hardship due to the kafala system. Mido El-Masry, who traveled to Saudi Arabia early last year with an official contract, reports that his sponsor forces him to perform personal tasks outside the scope of his job. When he refused one of these orders, the sponsor filed an escape report against him as a means of pressure but later canceled it after threatening him.
Despite Mido’s suffering, his colleague at the same institution faced a worse situation when the sponsor asked him to accompany him to the bank. There, the sponsor used the worker’s information to open a bank account in his name and received large sums of money through it, amounting to over 650,000 Saudi Riyals ($173,333) over two years. These actions exposed the worker to legal liability, as he was accused of money laundering after the bank discovered that his actual salary did not even amount to a quarter of this sum.
The worker received a message from the bank asking him to come in for inquiries about the visa associated with the bank account in his name. When he informed them that the visa was in the sponsor’s possession, the bank nevertheless filed a money laundering case against him. As a result, the sponsor sent the worker back to Egypt, where he was fined 50,000 Saudi Riyals ($13,333).
Another Egyptian worker, who was an accountant for the same sponsor and oversaw the company’s financial accounts, faced a similar situation. A regulatory committee discovered 250,000 Saudi Riyals ($66,667) unaccounted for in the company’s tax records. The sponsor blamed the accountant, claiming the money was his, which exposed the accountant to legal liability.
Commenting on these violations faced by Egyptians in Saudi Arabia, Abdel Wahab Khidr, the official spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Labor, stated that the ministry addresses complaints from workers abroad as soon as they are received and coordinates with Egyptian embassies to resolve issues and recover workers’ rights. Khidr stressed the importance of workers having the courage to report violations and providing evidence to support their complaints to confront abusive employers.
The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources allows workers to file complaints against their sponsors if they are subjected to abusive actions. The worker can submit their complaint and supporting documents to the ministry, which will attempt to resolve the dispute amicably within 21 days. If the worker fails to attend the informal settlement sessions, the complaint is closed, and the worker cannot reopen it. Workers can also file their complaints directly through the labor office.
However, Egyptian worker Essam Abdullah’s experience with these informal settlements was unsatisfactory. The Saudi labor court issued an initial ruling in favor of his sponsor, who had brought him to work in Saudi Arabia under a formal contract. Abdullah arrived in mid-August 2023, only to discover that his sponsor had issued a final exit visa for him without explanation, despite having spent around 50,000 pounds ($1,042) on travel expenses. When he asked his sponsor about the consequences of his situation, the sponsor simply replied, “I don’t want you.”
Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Strategy: Localization and Its Impact
Saudi Arabia’s 2030 strategy, which began following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s announcement, aims to localize various labor sectors and professions. The strategy includes a plan to localize jobs to develop human capital. The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources issued a decision to allocate 25% of positions in engineering establishments to Saudis, which took effect in June.
Saudi Arabia implemented the abolition of the kafala system in mid-March 2021 as part of the initiative to improve contractual relations with workers and grant them several benefits to enhance their working conditions, contributing to improving the Saudi labor market. The Ministry of Human Resources introduced a new sponsorship system that allows workers to transfer from one employer to another after the end of their contract period without needing the first employer’s approval. However, domestic labor remains under the abolished kafala system.
This initiative is considered one of the initiatives of the National Transformation Program, which aims to improve the working environment for 10.43 million foreign workers, representing 76.5% of the total workforce in the Kingdom, according to Saudi statistics. However, the reforms do not include five professions: “driver, domestic worker—whose numbers have reached about 3.7 million workers—guard, shepherd, and gardener.”
Commenting on these announced reforms, Human Rights Watch stated in March 2021 that the reforms do not suffice to dismantle the complex and abusive kafala system. The organization added, “Domestic workers, farmworkers, and others among the least protected and most vulnerable to abuse remain outside labor laws. The reforms allow migrant workers to request exit permits without the employer’s permission for the first time, but they do not eliminate the exit permit, which violates human rights.”
Zawia3 monitored several complaints following the announcement of the start of the kafala system’s abolition through social media platforms. Egyptians complained of continued sponsor intransigence and the repressive practices and threats they face. For example, in January 2022, a Saudi sponsor filed an escape report against Egyptian engineer Mohamed Mustafa, who was working with him in Dammam. Despite Mustafa’s attempts to reconcile, the sponsor refused, leading to Mustafa’s dismissal from work.
Egyptian workers also share their complaints about sponsors through public groups on social media, often using anonymous posts to avoid personal risks. These posts reveal that the new kafala system, while weaker in granting sponsors authority over workers, has not completely eliminated it. For example, one person complained about a sponsor’s delay in allowing him to transfer his sponsorship to another company.
Sponsors use the threat of escape reports, which can prevent the worker from working in Saudi Arabia for two to five years. This type of report was common under the old kafala system, as seen in a complaint from a worker named Karim, documented in June 2016. Karim said the sponsor took the visa fee from him, unfairly dismissed him from work, and threatened to file an escape report against him. In June of this year, another worker, Abu Mazen, faced a similar threat from his sponsor if he could not find a new job and transfer his sponsorship.
Constitutional law expert Essam El-Islamboli told Zawia3 that the lack of legal guarantees protecting the rights of Egyptian workers in Saudi Arabia is due to the informal nature of contracts between sponsors and workers, made outside the Ministry of Manpower. As a result, the ministry is not a party to these contracts and, therefore, lacks the authority to protect workers’ rights.
El-Islamboli added, “In many cases, the worker may not find what was agreed upon in the contract, whether in terms of salary or job duties, in addition to being exploited in forced labor.”
He pointed to the declining role of Egyptian embassies in monitoring Egyptians abroad and the lack of support for workers from these institutions. He believes that ambassadors and consuls are preoccupied with their personal interests and do not care about the suffering of Egyptian citizens. He emphasized the absence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in protecting Egyptians abroad and added, “If these entities did their job, Egyptian workers abroad would be protected, including safeguarding their work contracts and follow-up.”
Alternative Work Opportunities in the Gulf
According to local Saudi newspapers, Egyptian labor is widespread in several regions within Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has about one million Egyptians, while Jeddah has around 500,000 Egyptians, Dammam is home to about 300,000 Egyptians, and Mecca has about 200,000 Egyptians. Medina follows with around 100,000 Egyptians, with other numbers scattered across various regions. The professions of construction, medicine, education, and services are the most prominent occupations held by Egyptians in Saudi Arabia. According to the Kingdom’s 2022 census, Egyptians rank fifth in terms of the number of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia—including expatriates and their dependents—estimated at 10.9% of the total number of foreigners, who number about 13.33 million people, with an estimated 1.471 million Egyptians.
As the eyes of young Egyptians began to turn to Europe as an alternative to Gulf countries, especially after the implementation of “Gulfization” in some Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian authorities sought new ways to create job opportunities for Egyptians abroad through a program launched by the Ministry of Labor aimed at exporting Egyptian labor. The Ministry of Migration also pursued agreements and partnerships with the European Union to train and qualify young Egyptians to work in European markets.
Last June, the Egyptian Ministry of Labor announced the opening of new markets for work in European Union countries and the Balkans, in cooperation with labor representation offices and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is done through overseas employment companies (with about 1,400 licensed companies, according to Hiba Ahmed, Director of Employment at the Egyptian Ministry of Labor).
Intissar Badr noted the decline in demand for Egyptian labor in the Gulf countries, as the demand has weakened compared to the past, with these countries increasingly turning to Asian labor due to lower wages compared to Egyptian workers. Additionally, the trend towards “Saudization” aims to localize jobs and make the majority of workers Saudi citizens.
Badr added, “Recently, Italy requested the Egyptian Ministry of Labor to recruit 4,000 Egyptian furniture workers—carpenters. It is important for craftsmen to register their names and professions with the Ministry of Manpower so they can be legally exported abroad with all necessary protections and rights.”
Despite the announced reforms from the Saudi side and the Egyptian government’s efforts to find alternative job opportunities for Egyptians, some Egyptian workers fear filing complaints against their employers in Saudi Arabia, lest escape reports be filed against them and they be deported. In the face of difficult economic conditions in Egypt, with the high cost of living and personal financial obligations, workers are forced to endure and work under pressure. This raises the question: When will Egypt open industrial and production markets and create fair-paying job opportunities to protect Egyptians from exploitation abroad?
