It has been called a form of modern-day slavery. The abusive "kafala" or sponsorship system for foreign workers in Saudi Arabia gives their employers near-absolute authority over their legal status in the country, including their ability to leave a job. The kafala system applies to millions of migrant workers in the kingdom who account for more than 80 percent of the private sector workforce, making them the labor foundation of the Saudi economy. The Saudi government claimed to introduce labor reforms in 2021 that would curb the kafala system. But those "reforms" have proven to be empty promises—as my father's mistreatment painfully showed.

My father, an Indian national, was a victim of human trafficking and forced labor in Saudi Arabia. His story is just a glimpse at the widespread abuse of migrant workers in the kingdom, an oppressive labor system that is at the root of all of Saudi Arabia's grand economic plans under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS.

My father, Ahmed Abdul Majeed, arrived in Saudi Arabia in 1981, from India, to work as a sales manager. He spent 40 years working for a single company, a Saudi travel agency now known as the Seera Group, which is controlled by the crown prince through the Public Investment Fund (PIF)…