I am lost for words. I am overflowing with emotions. I am overabundant with feelings. I never thought that I can go through this range of powerful emotions in the anticipation of good news. Truly, I have fervently hoped and prayed for this, but have never expected it to be realized in my lifetime.

Just last week, there were rumors that fueled speculations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the rest of the Middle East that kafala will be abolished in KSA. To put an end to assumptions, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development came out with a statement clarifying the matter. ZAWYA.com, a leading source of regional news in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the states of Middle East and North Africa, reported on this and came out with an article on 28 October regarding the issue. Pertinent portions of the news provide:

“SAUDI MINISTRY RESPONDS TO REPORT THAT kafala SPONSORSHIP SYSTEM TO END

A report had suggested that Saudi will be replacing kafala with a form of contract between employers and employees.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced that it is working on “many initiatives” to develop the labour market and that decisions will be announced when they are ready. This follows a media report that the Kingdom was working to abolish the ‘kafala’ sponsorship system.

“In reference to what has been circulated about changes in the framework of the labour contractual relationship in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development clarifies that it is working on many initiatives to organise and develop the labour market, and it will be announced as soon as it is ready. The Ministry calls upon everyone to obtain information from its official sources,” the Ministry said in a statement on its Twitter account early on Wednesday.”

For migrant rights advocates all over the world, the potential good of this developing story brings extraordinary excitement. If and when this happens, any form of reform in the kafala system will always be a game changer especially when it comes from powerful and influential KSA. As of October 2018, the Saudi economy is the largest in the Middle East and the 18th largest in the world. It is the largest country in the Middle East and as of December 2019, it is the 4th top country of destination of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) with more than 800,000 Filipino migrants working in the Kingdom.

To further understand why the Philippines is so adamant in its abolition or immediate reform, kafala is defined as follows: The traditional sponsorship system existing in Arab countries in the Middle East where the sponsor (kafeel) has absolute control over his or her migrant worker. The migrant worker is substantially deprived of mobility and is rendered completely dependent on his or her employer in, but not limited to, the following: return to his or home country; transfer to another employer; and access to better working/living conditions. As officially reported and recorded in multiple occasions, kafala often leads to abuse largely because of the unfortunate denomination whenever the migrant worker is regarded as mere property of the employer – a lesser individual by all rights and respect. International human rights groups and migrant rights advocates have slammed kafala as a form of slavery and a human rights violation.

There have been notable reforms in the kafala system in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the State of Qatar. However, any reform coming from Saudi Arabia will definitely bring the countries in the Middle East to race to the top in terms of protecting and fulfilling the rights of migrant workers. The world now awaits KSA’s announcement with much anticipation since it is expected that such labor reform will be the fulfillment of Objective 6 Section 22 (g) of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). Saudi Arabia, together with the countries in the Middle East adopted the GCM in December 2018. The said GCM provision provides:

OBJECTIVE 6: Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work

22. We commit to review existing recruitment mechanisms to guarantee that they are fair and ethical, and to protect all migrant workers against all forms of exploitation and abuse in order to guarantee decent work and maximize the socioeconomic contributions of migrants in both their countries of origin and destination.

To realize this commitment, we will draw from the following actions:

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(g) Develop and strengthen labour migration and fair and ethical recruitment processes that allow migrants to change employers and modify the conditions or length of their stay with minimal administrative burden, while promoting greater opportunities for decent work and respect for international human rights and labour law. (emphasis supplied)

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If and when the labor reform announcement is made by the KSA in the coming days or weeks, human rights groups and migrant rights advocates will surely erupt in jubilation. This will spark the new civil rights movement in the Middle East and affected neighboring states. This will change the region since such move by the Kingdom will definitely be a game changer – a wave of real and genuine change.

The Philippines is a main stakeholder in this change. Not only because it will affect the close to 2.2 million OFWs who in the Middle East, but because the Philippines is at the forefront in the global anti-kafala campaign. It should not be forgotten that it is no less than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who is leading our country’s charge against kafala. It was during the fateful night in that press conference in Davao City on 9 February 2018 when he uttered these powerful words: “The Filipino is no slave to anyone, anywhere and everywhere.” He said that after the nation’s shock when the dead body of a Filipino Household Service Worker was found inside a freezer in Kuwait. The brutal death of Joanna Demafelis was the catalyst for the Philippines to embark on a massive and most intense anti-kafala campaign the world has ever seen.

Not only did the Philippines speak against kafala in the United Nations and in every possible international forum; we walked the talk by partnering with the prominent Kingdom of Bahrain in their labor reforms. We supported their flexi-visa system that allows migrant workers to become freelancers and to be free of sponsors. To date, the Philippine government through the Assistance to Nationals Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs funded the regularization of close to 1,000 undocumented workers in Bahrain. We also embarked on sponsoring several international conferences and side events with the Kingdom of Bahrain to talk about our partnership in reforming the sponsorship system. This partnership is a first in the world where a country of origin and a country of destination came together for the promotion of labor mobility and the GCM to in the end achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Before President Duterte, no country of origin ever spoke openly against kafala for fear of offending the countries of destination in the Middle East. Many countries of origin refuse to openly criticize the system that is why the Philippines shocked the world when we embarked in this campaign. We were fearless in our campaign; elegant in our struggle; and relentless in our pursuit for justice and reform. And it is paying off. The world is watching and listening – and change is happening.

The road to complete freedom and real change is admittedly still long and arduous. But as they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The major change in KSA will not only be a radical positive change in the region, but it will also bring hope and a glimpse at salvation to all migrants that are bound by the kafala system.

Many people might find the pace of reforms in the Middle East slow and sometimes frustrating. But for advocates like myself, any single step, any single reform is always a step in the positive direction. And the labor reform in Saudi Arabia, in whatever form it may come, is always an exciting and welcome development. As an advocate, the words of renowned Jesuit and Constitutionalist Father Joaquin Bernas is always a source of comfort: “hope becomes a virtue when everything seems hopeless.” Patience, perseverance, and passion are always necessary in advocating for change. As my favorite author Paolo Coelho once said in his tribute to Sherin Ebadi when the latter won the Nobel Peace Prize, “the pace of change… real change, always takes a very long time.”

And this change, this kind of change is always worth the wait.