The plight of nearly 16,000 South Asia workers abandoned in camps by employers in Saudi Arabia has drawn attention to the kafala system of migrant labor sponsorship practiced in Gulf Arab states...If things go bad, workers can’t go home unless their employers arrange and pay for exit visas, which they don’t always do. That’s what happened to the 7,700 Indian and 8,000 Pakistani workers who found themselves languishing in camps without food, water or visas to leave the kingdom. Many had been employed by construction companies hit by the downturn in oil prices.