Human Trafficking in the Middle East
- August 4, 2021
- 6:08 pm

Despite the existence of these documents, their implementation is yet to be perfect. For example, the Palermo Protocol provides an extensive view on fighting human trafficking, however, ratifying states do not extend the implementation procedures to fully combat the problem. There is a tendency for the ratifying states to draw focus on very specific issues without seeing it as a wider problem or addressing means of prevention. To effectively solve the problem, countries need to ratify all the meaningful documents together and follow the proposed guidelines leading to solutions. The United Nations also propose an alternative view of human trafficking as a human rights problem instead of merely a criminal act. This appears to be the suggested approach that would allow focusing on ‘preventing, protecting and prosecuting’ effectively.8
The two following sections of this article will focus on examining two cases of human trafficking in the Middle Eastern region.

Despite the prevalence of Kafala in the Arabian Gulf, the international attention drawn to it has proven to be a start for reformative measures. Over the years the control of the employer has diminished, which in turn allows workers to have more freedom in making decisions about their employment contracts or private matters without scrutiny of the ‘principal’. For example, Saudi Arabia now allows migrant workers to travel outside of the country’s territory without notifying the employer. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain started providing more flexible working visas.11
Recently, by far the most scrutinized country in the region regarding the Kafala system is Qatar since it is set to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Around 30 000 migrant workers are allocated to work in infrastructure, hospitality and stadium creation for the incoming championship. Due to the extreme heat in Qatar and the lack of safe working conditions, a high number of laborers have suffered injuries or died.12 Last year, Human Rights Watch released a report after interviewing a sample of workers only to discover that together with not providing sufficient workplace protection, employers fail to pay or withhold salaries. This practice has become more apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic. The payment delays lead to workers having to live on the verge of starvation or in debt. These facts are troubling, especially given the 2017 promises of Qatar to abolish the abusive Kafala system.13 However, since the start of the preparation for the World Cup, Qatar has introduced the minimum wage requirements for migrant workers and allowed for more flexible employment alterations for those wishing to switch professions.14
ISIS and human trafficking

If men and boys converted to Islam, they could avoid execution and became ISIS captives. They were transferred to sites where they were forced to work. Yazidi women and girls were deemed property of ISIS and openly considered slaves. Most of them were sold to ISIS fighters in slave markets in Iraq and Syria. In order to circulate photos of the captured females, ISIS fighters used social media websites, such as Telegram. Once sold, Yazidi women and girls were used as sexual slaves and forced to work as domestic servants in the fighters’ homes. Around one-fifth of these females were contained in military-based holding sites, mainly for sexual exploitation purposes. The young children were transferred with their mothers when the latter were sold. Finally, the group of Yazidi boys between 8 and 12 years old were forcibly transferred to training centres and military camps in Iraq and Syria where they were renamed and treated as ISIS recruits, subject to forced training and indoctrination.17
Al-Dayel and Mumford argue that the scale and structural elements of ISIS’s slavery economy is new.18 The circumstances in which ISIS acted highlight new issues in the fight against trafficking. While states are best-placed actors to develop and implement an anti-trafficking strategy, such attempts are impaired when governmental authorities have lost control of their territories. This is still a challenge to be resolved to reach effective prevention of human trafficking in all places and political contexts.
The pathway in the fight against human trafficking
In general, the fight against trafficking in persons mostly relies on the state’s ability to implement legislation, to respect the legal provisions, and, if needed, to prosecute human traffickers. States need to ensure that effective judicial mechanisms exist that allow victims to seek legal action. To promote an effective fight against the human trafficking issue and ensure prevention, the international community needs to draw attention to the abuses in order to encourage change and reforms.
References
- UNODC. (2020). Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, p. 31. UN publications.
- In this article, the Middle East is considered as the countries of Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
- Ibid, p. 171.
- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
- Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Syrian Arab Republic.
- Ibid, p. 172.
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2014, August). International instruments concerning the trafficking in persons. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/OnePagers/IntInstrumentsconcerningTraffickingpersons_Aug2014.pdf
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2014, August). International instruments concerning the trafficking in persons. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/OnePagers/IntInstrumentsconcerningTraffickingpersons_Aug2014.pdf
- Robinson, K. (2021, March 23) What is the Kafala System? Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system#:~:text=The%20kafala%2C%20or%20sponsorship%2C%20system,well%20as%20Jordan%20and%20Lebanon
- Robinson, K. (2021, March 23) What is the Kafala System? Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system#:~:text=The%20kafala%2C%20or%20sponsorship%2C%20system,well%20as%20Jordan%20and%20Lebanon
- Robinson, K. (2021, March 23) What is the Kafala System? Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system#:~:text=The%20kafala%2C%20or%20sponsorship%2C%20system,well%20as%20Jordan%20and%20Lebanon
- Robinson, K. (2021, March 23) What is the Kafala System? Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system#:~:text=The%20kafala%2C%20or%20sponsorship%2C%20system,well%20as%20Jordan%20and%20Lebanon
- Human Rights Watch. (2020, August 24). Qatar: Little progress on protecting migrant workers. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/24/qatar-little-progress-protecting-migrant-workers
- Robinson, K. (2021, March 23) What is the Kafala System? Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-kafala-system#:~:text=The%20kafala%2C%20or%20sponsorship%2C%20system,well%20as%20Jordan%20and%20Lebanon
- UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (UN IICI Syria). (2016). The Yazidi Genocide, p. 103. Cairo Review of Global Affairs, 23, 103. Al-Dayel, N., & Mumford, A. (2020). ISIS and Their Use of Slavery. International Center for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved from https://icct.nl/publication/isis-and-their-use-of-slavery/.
- UN IICI Syria. (2016). The Yazidi Genocide, p. 104. Cairo Review of Global Affairs, 23, 103. Al-Dayel, N., & Mumford, A. (2020). ISIS and Their Use of Slavery. International Center for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved from https://icct.nl/publication/isis-and-their-use-of-slavery/.
- UN IICI Syria. (2016). The Yazidi Genocide, pp. 104-109. Cairo Review of Global Affairs, 23, 103. Al-Dayel, N., & Mumford, A. (2020). Al-Dayel, N., & Mumford, A. (2020). ISIS and Their Use of Slavery. International Center for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved from https://icct.nl/publication/isis-and-their-use-of-slavery/.
- Al-Dayel, N., & Mumford, A. (2020). ISIS and Their Use of Slavery. International Center for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved from https://icct.nl/publication/isis-and-their-use-of-slavery/.

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