New Delhi, Oct. 22 -- Saudi Arabia has in a landmark labour reform abolished its 50-year long worker sponsorship programme known as the Kafala system, according to reports.

The decision, first announced in June 2025, will impact rights and lives of around 1.34 crore migrant workers - majority from Southeast Asia and South Asia, including Indians, living in the Middle Eastern country, as per an India Today report.

Implemented in the 1950s, the Kafala system, which in Arabic literally translates to sponsorship system, gave employers full control over their employees' legal status, residency, when or if they could leave the country, seek legal help, or even change jobs, as per the report. The system tied each sponsor or 'Kafeel' to a migra...