{......} For a number of reasons, each Gulf country has recently reformed some aspects of the Kafala without abolishing it completely. However, Bahrain’s Flexi-Permit scheme stands out as the closest to “abolishing  Kafala” for some lower-income migrants. Introduced in 2017, the Flexi-Permit allows migrants with irregular status to “self-sponsor,” meaning they are no longer dependent on an employer for their residency. Though migrant workers must have a sponsor to enter the country, all other controls employers hold under the Kafala system are technically relinquished: A Flexi-Permit worker can change jobs as he or she wishes, without their employer’s consent. Employers of Flexi-Permit workers are not able to file absconding cases against them and, given that the Flexi-Permit holder is solely responsible for renewing his or her permit, the employer has no reason (or access) to confiscate a worker’s passport. 

According to reports, more than 12,000 Flexi-Permits have been cancelled since the scheme started, most likely due to lack of payment.  Given the austere conditions of Bahrain’s private sector, migrant workers continue to work and live in bleak conditions even when their visas are tied to the state.But the high costs of the Flexi-Permit is only one aspect of the problem. Even if the permit was cheaper  (the government did reduce permit fees during the pandemic), the lack of protection for permit-holders - who are effectively ‘freelancers’ - under the labour law enables exploitative employment practices. The obligations of the client who contracts work to the permit holder are not clearly defined, and nor are the labour rights of the permit holder. Four years since its debut, grievance redressal and labour complaints for Flexi Permit holders are also still not prioritised; a labour lawyer in Bahrain told MR that the Labour Law does not apply to Flexi-Permit holders because they technically do not have an employer/sponsor, and that as such, they are only able to file cases against employers at civil courts, not labour courts.