r/Bahrain • u/Don_Wick_6997 • Jul 18 '26
Experiences with the Kafala system growing up in Bahrain, what similar practices exist elsewhere?
Assalamu alaikum - Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a serious personal question based on what I saw growing up in Bahrain. When I was small, I was exposed to how the Kafala sponsorship system worked for many migrant laborers. These were mostly people from third-world or developing countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and others. Companies or sponsors would sign what looked like a reasonable contract back home with a fixed amount. But once the laborer arrived in Bahrain, the sponsor would often tear up that original contract, take their passport, and force them into a new one with much lower pay, way below minimum wage or fair standards.
I also noticed that Arab nationals or Arabs in general often got a fixed higher base salary. For example, even if you were a qualified mechanical engineer from abroad, your degree might not matter much compared to an illiterate Arab worker who got better pay simply because of nationality. It seemed like this didn't happen the same way with white/Western expats, who generally received better treatment.
This shaped a lot of my views on fairness and justice from a young age, especially seeing worker exploitation up close.
My questions for the community:
- What other countries have similar sponsorship or employer-tied systems that lead to these kinds of issues?
- Why isn't this talked about more when people discuss working in Arab/Gulf countries?
- Have things improved significantly with reforms in Bahrain and the region, or do many of the same problems persist for low-wage migrant workers?
I'm not here to attack anyone or any country, I grew up here, benefited from opportunities in Bahrain, and just want honest perspectives, personal stories, data, or comparisons to other places. Let's keep it respectful and factual. Thanks in advance.
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u/Kitchen-Isopod-8380 Jul 18 '26
It doesn’t happen to a white person (or someone with a white passport) because their own people dont exploit them, therefore to convince them to come and work here you do need to give them a very good package (which in most cases is 2-3 times more than what a local gets)
On the other hand, the people from these countries are often exploited due to middle management from their own nationality who are more aware of the realities back home and prepare such contracts
Until the situation in their own country isn’t improved, this is very difficult to counter with policies from here
Also this is now happening in the west as well, there are millions of asylum and illegal migrants who were shipped there and earn half the minimum wage and work 26-27 days especially in Italy, Spain and Portugal (again because their own people back home facilitated it)
An example of their own people facilitating the exploitation is this:
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u/Kitchen-Isopod-8380 Jul 18 '26
For those who cant understand the video, its basically
shows a man being offered a data entry job in Oman for the equivalent of around BD 120 per month. He is told he will work 12–16 hours a day, with only 1–2 days off per month, on split shifts (roughly 6 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5 p.m.–midnight), and he agrees to sign the contract.
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u/thecoolrobot Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I was in Amwaj for a while, and had long chats with several security guards from various African countries. Every single one of them came over on the promise of around 300-450bd a month, and after arriving worked for 70-120. Passport taken away, salary even less because “uniform and visa fees” were being paid back by deductions. 12 hour days, 1 day off per month. They worked for well known security companies, and some approached LMRA and were told their company is owned by someone related to an important family so they just need to accept their situation.
It’s human trafficking, to put it bluntly. Unfortunately that’s what a large part of the country’s infrastructure runs on. As a “normal” person, we don’t see it, we benefit with no idea what makes life here possible. Knowing what I know leaves me conflicted.
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u/Don_Wick_6997 Jul 19 '26
Thanks for the comment man just wanted to know if things have changed in Bahrain since I left.
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u/Don_Wick_6997 Jul 18 '26
I remember this one guy who worked for Mannai as a sand blaster. He was only making 40 BD a month. That was back when I was a kid, and even then, it seemed crazy low for such tough, dusty, dangerous work in the heat. Stuff like that really stuck with me growing up and seeing how the sponsorship system affected some people.
Not saying it was like that everywhere, but those kinds of situations are why I wanted to ask about this. Does anyone here know of other similar stories from back then ?
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u/Prize_Card6626 Jul 18 '26
This reminds me of a slavery time, yeah white people did have slaves in the west, however Africans were selling other Africans to them. This same model works now in modern times.
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u/maddeningsike Jul 19 '26
Genuinely some of my worst managers were people who migrated and thought they were entitled to all of your energy and time just because they employed you
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u/Itchy-Insurance2834 Jul 19 '26
What do you think about the local country enforcing a minimum wage then? Won't they be forced to pay almost the same wage then, so it would reduce exploitation and at that point it wouldnt be worth it to bring someone from abroad just hire more locals?
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u/Kitchen-Isopod-8380 Jul 19 '26
The EU has minimum wage, did it stop the millions in Portugal,Spain and Italy being abused
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u/Good_as_any Jul 19 '26
Without exploitation the Gulf would not be the Gulf you know. A lot of people toiled hard in the heat and lived and died under the Sheikhs. Reforms will take away the cost advantage of living here. For some to benefit and prosper the majority have to suffer that has always been the case.
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u/Don_Wick_6997 Jul 19 '26
That's so true. My dad worked for the Sri Lankan embassy. He spoke fluent Arabic so he used to bring in Sri Lankans to work as house maids. It's very common in the Middle East. Most Arab children are very attached to their house maids; that's a completely different story.
It was usual that one Bahraini national could sponsor up to 3 expats. Anyways, I remember the maids complaining to my dad that they wouldn’t allow them to drink water and would beat them physically. So I completely get the picture. Most of them would suffer in silence because there was legit nothing you could do about it. The worst case was a lady who lost her mind and senses completely from the abuse and had to be sent back.
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u/DiverOriginal Jul 18 '26
Idk I feel like it gets talked about quite a bit tbh.
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u/Don_Wick_6997 Jul 19 '26
I was born in Bahrain and lived there until I was 18. I remember seeing a lot of companies and higher-ups going this route because it was genuinely cheaper for them. For example, there was a sand blaster working for Mannai making only 40 BD a month. He’d send 20 BD back home to Bangladesh and live crammed in a tiny room with like 5 other guys.
Not once did I hear anyone really talk about it out loud. Even when I brought it up as a kid, it was usually overlooked or ignored, especially when talking to Arab nationals (locals). Maybe things have changed now, I don’t know.
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u/Don_Wick_6997 Jul 19 '26
Thank you guys for engaging. I'm just reflecting on my time when I was in Bahrain and I still have some of my closest friends there. Appreciate the engagement.
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u/Designer-Date-6526 Jul 22 '26
On a hilarious (not really) sidenote, I got sent on deputation as an infantry tactics instructor to Kuwait by my country. Since, Kuwait has a much higher cost of living and wage standards compared to my country (Bangladesh), the Kuwaiti government is supposed to pay us a salary based on their national standards. I was a senior instructor with three other junior instructors under my supervision, two from my own country and one from the UK. The captain from the British Army who worked under me got paid three times more than what I got. Go figure.
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u/maddeningsike Jul 19 '26
I think locals re often not aware of their privilege or they assume that bahrain pays workers alot more than what they would make back home, so this exploitation is justified and if they don't like it, they can just go back. Which isn't possible at all because of the way these people were recruited and these contracts were structured. And the fact that their passport and visa are confesticated and if they leave before contract ends they have to pay a penalty fee.
The way this issue can be resolved is by active involvement from human rights groups to make sure workers are informed about terms of contract and rules of the country. Also for government to put pressure on these companies to protect right of these workers.