...it is important to point out that migrant worker abuses are not unique to Qatar, or to the construction sector. The abuses the Guardian revealed are part of a regional problem that afflicts low-paid workers in various fields. Taxi drivers in the United Arab Emirates, domestic workers in Kuwait, street cleaners in Bahrain, oil-field workers in Saudi Arabia, and security guards in Oman face the same abuses as construction workers in Qatar, and the reasons are more or less identical. None of these countries have taken meaningful steps to reform the kafala, or sponsorship, system central to the exploitation. In all the Gulf States, sponsors confiscate passports and recruitment agencies charge workers fees, and almost all Gulf States prohibit migrant workers from joining trade unions and collective bargaining.