Operation Desert Sunshine Migrant: Labor and the Gulf Cooperation Council

• Author: Kevin T. Sharp
• Pages: 107-132

e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law

ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X

http://www.ijil.org

© 2021 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press

I would like to thank Professor César Rosado Marzán of the University of Iowa

College of Law for his continued support and assistance with this project. Mistakes

and omissions are solely the responsibility of the author.

opEration dEsErt sunshinE Migrant

Labor and the GuLf Cooperation CounCiL

Kevin T. Sharp

e University of Iowa College of Law

E-mail: kevin-sharp@uiowa.edu

As Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, col-

lectively known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, continue their modern

economic restructuring to mollify international perceptions and diversify both state and

private markets, there yet remains a distinct reliance on exploited migrant labor. Despite

publicized eorts to forge a more progressive society and utilize a larger portion of do-

mestic labor, the GCC and its constituent countries overwhelmingly depend on migrant

workers to achieve its desired economic reorientation. rough service and construction

sectors, the GCC seeks to attract foreign capital from tourists and investors, yet these

same industries are singularly bolstered by the exploitation of migrant labor predomi-

nantly from India and Southeast Asia. Upon arrival in the GCC, migrant workers are

subjected to egregious and well-documented labor and human rights abuses. Neverthe-

less, the domestic populace and international community are induced into a form of

false consciousness by rebranding eorts of the GCC whereby the “ideal expression[s] of

the dominant material relationships” exclude the plight of migrant workers and frame

the role of migrant labor as merely coincident to a modern, progressive socioeconomic

restructuring. ese trends surely will not be adequately countered by internal forces

in the near future, but utilizing apparatus under international labor law and stateless

regulation therefor may have a signicant impact on the rights and welfare of migrant

workers in the GCC. Indeed, through a focused “sunshine” strategy carried out by the

ILO and stateless actors to bring about greater international awareness of the GCC’s la-

bor abuses and generate consumer/investor boycotts, there might be sucient economic

pressure to incentivize the region to undertake labor reforms to aord migrant workers

greater legal protections and workplace dignity.

Keywords: Labor Migration, Regionalism, Human Rights, International Law.

VIII Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 107-32 (April 2021)

108

Sharp

INTRODUCTION: KAFALA DESERT

MIRAGE

Glitzy panoramas of shimmering, modern city skylines and sleek cut-

aways to striking landscapes beckon would-be tourists and foreign

investors to the burgeoning economic stalwarts of the Middle East—

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. eir dedicated

marketing schemes to both national and regional economic diversi-

cation entice the international community with stylish urban environ-

ments oering amusement parks, concerts, and a ourishing nightlife,1

and remote oases boasting eco-friendly luxury resorts.2 Each “opens

like a mirage, unlikely—unbelievable at rst”3 but which nevertheless

oers “treasures of breathtaking beauty that leave you spellbound.”4 A

region once likely thought of as isolated and austere5 is now presented

as a charming tourist haven where “forward is the only way the wind

blows” and “all mankind can not only live, but thrive.” 6

Such orchestrated marketing attempts to rebrand these countries

within the Gulf Cooperation Council region as progressive destinations

for tourists and foreign investors were born out of an economic necessity

to diversify their respective economies which are overwhelmingly

1. See One of the Most Beautiful Places in the World, V

A D (Oct. 31, 2016), https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=JsApJY8wpWg&feature=emb_title.Top of FormBottom of

Form

2. Saudi Arabia’s Sensational and Eco-friendly Luxury Tourism Red Sea

Project, T R S D C. (Oct. 22, 2018), https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=dLqbrqFAZnk.

3. Supra note 1.

4. Visit Saudi Arabia, R A ’A S  R

(Sep. 27, 2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBotvcJgCD8.

5. See Saudi Arabia: Open for Tourists, T E (Jul. 31, 2018),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcR3yeyBJ40.

6. Feel the Spirit of Dubai, V D (Sep. 23, 2015), https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=WfTJL_h0XfY&feature=emb_title.