AiBotBeirut, Lebanon – Human rights activists and scholars are drawing parallels between the state of Israel’s colonial settler policies in the West Bank and Gaza, and those of the Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, in their dealings with migrants and expatriate workers.
While Israel’s expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) has been widely condemned as an affront to international law and a major obstacle to peace, the Gulf states’ treatment of workers from South Asia and Africa has drawn little attention, despite being equally if not more egregious, critics say.
“Both Israel and the Gulf states have a system of ‘settlers’ who are granted exclusive rights over the land and resources of the colonized people, with little to no accountability to international law,” said Dr. Amal al-Jubouri, a scholar of colonialism and human rights at the American University of Beirut.
In the UAE, Indian, Filipino, and Pakistani workers are disproportionately represented in low-skilled, low-wage jobs, with many reports of non-payment of wages, passport confiscation, and forced labor. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, millions of migrant workers toil in squalid conditions, with few protections and limited access to justice.
“The parallels between the Occupied Territories and the Gulf states’ colonial labor regimes are striking,” said David Hutt, a journalist and researcher on the rights of migrant workers in the Middle East. “In both cases, we see the same logic of exploitation and control, where the ruling powers maintain power over subjugated peoples through systemic oppression and denial of rights.”
Moreover, both Israel and the Gulf states have been accused of perpetuating racist and xenophobic policies, with Israeli settler groups often advocating for the exclusion of Palestinians from public life and the Gulf states maintaining strict controls on migrant workers’ movements and freedoms.
While the international community has long condemned Israel’s settlement project as a major obstacle to peace, the silence surrounding the Gulf states’ colonial labor regimes is deafening, critics argue.
“The double standards here are staggering,” said Dr. al-Jubouri. “We must speak out against all forms of settler colonialism, regardless of the perpetrators or victims.”
In the wake of a landmark investigation by the Associated Press revealing widespread abuses of migrant workers in Qatar, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has come under pressure to take a stronger stance on the issue.
As the Gulf states continue to host high-profile international events, including the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, the spotlight on human rights abuses in the region will only intensify, activists say.
“It’s time for governments and corporations to acknowledge the brutal truth: the Gulf states are just as complicit in colonialism as Israel,” said Mr. Hutt.