Invisible Hands, Visible Wounds

GULF / MIDDLE EAST

– Domestic Workers and Passport Confiscation:

In the Gulf, migrant domestic workers—often women from Africa or Asia—face routine confiscation of passports, withholding of wages, and extremely long working hours with little rest. In Saudi Arabia, for example, many women reported having their passports taken, no freedom of movement and food deprivation. Their work under the sponsorship (“kafala”) system places them in an almost captive role, combining vulnerability, exhaustion and isolation.