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For sale of return: A recruitment agent stands with a group of Ethiopian domestic workers as they wait for potential clients at an agency office in the Hawalli district of Kuwait. Women who leave employers and return to recruitment agencies – either as a result of their employer’s decision or… Read more
This is the second in a series of blog posts exploring employment problems in the Arab Gulf states.
Part one: How it began
Part two: The iniquities of kafala
Part three: Female domestic workers
Part four: Working outside the rules
Part five: Jobs for citizens?
Part six: Jobs… Read more
Employment systems in the Arab Gulf states are increasingly coming under an international spotlight.
Following the decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, concerns have been raised about the conditions of migrant construction workers preparing for the tournament – an… Read more
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The year 1990 marked what many Yemenis hoped would be the start of a new era when the northern and southern states – relics of British and Turkish imperialism – merged into one.
The British had taken Aden as a colony in 1839 and then extended their… Read more
The Geneva talks on Syria resumed this week with the opposition eager to see the question of political transition figuring prominently on the agenda while the regime seeks to avoid that at all costs.
Today, the opposition played rather a smart move by issuing a 1,900-word document setting… Read more
“One day, it will be an Alawite who finally kills Assad.” This rather startling prediction – that the Syrian president’s own community will eventually turn against him – comes in a blog post from Aboud Dandachi, an activist now living in Turkey.
Dandachi, it should be noted, used to live… Read more
Back in 2001, three prominent sociologists published a groundbreaking book called Dynamics of Contention. Its authors, Doug McAdam, Sidney Tarrow and Charles Tilly, sought to develop a universal framework for studying "contentious politics" – protest movements, strikes, revolutions and the like.… Read more
The Saudi government's efforts to increase female employment seem to be having the opposite effect in some areas.
Several women-only shops in Jeddah are closing down because there are not enough qualified women to work in them and they are not allowed to employ men, reports:
"Fadyah al-Otaibi… Read more
For as long as people have been writing books there have been others who sought to destroy them. When it's driven by moralistic or political objections, book-burning often takes a ritualistic form, carried out in public. Regardless of the books in question, setting fire to them strikes many people… Read more
Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers have been forced to leave Saudi Arabia during the last couple of years, with 250,000 deported during the last three months alone, according to interior ministry figures.
One of the main aims behind these expulsions is to provide more jobs for… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
