Global Investigative Journalism Network (https://archive.gijn.org/tag/gulf-reporting-guide/)
One of the newest members of GIJN, the Jordanian investigative site 7iber, began as a blog in 2007 but has since matured into an online magazine bravely covering issues in a hostile press environment.
Katie McQue, a British freelance journalist that spent five years reporting from Dubai covering human rights and migration alongside her “business” beats of energy, healthcare, and finance, speaks to GIJN about her work and the best practices reporters can adopt when covering forced labor and human trafficking in the region.
INTRODUCTION
More than 23 million migrant workers live in the six Middle Eastern countries that make up the political and economic alliance known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Unfortunately, abuse of these workers is widespread, mostly due to the legal framework of the kafala sponsorship system — the legal framework defining the relationship between migrant workers and their employers — which can result in contract violations and dangerous working conditions, benefit unscrupulous traffickers, and cause discord among brokers and employers.
There are few independent, locally-registered media outlets in the GCC, and much of the reporting on the region is carried out by either those who are based in the region reporting to media outside it or those who visit the countries often to report on it. Both these groups face constraints in access to information and security.
While the Gulf states have largely reopened their key sectors, migrants remain vulnerable to employment insecurity and exploitation. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of the pre-existing issues that migrant workers face in the Gulf region, including non-payment of wages, exclusion from social protections, and limited access to healthcare.
This section was written by Migrant-Rights.org’s Vani Saraswathi. Reporting around labor migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is often framed around portraying migrant workers as victims, and does not recognize their agency or adequately capture their aspirational journey for a better life for their families and themselves.
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There are 23 million migrant workers in the Gulf, but reporting in this region presents a series of unique and often difficult challenges for investigative journalists due to widespread restrictions on press freedom and threats to reporters’ security. GIJN and Migrants-Rights.org have collaborated to update this bilingual guide to educate journalists on best practices, tools, and country-specific resources for covering the subject, all against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
This updated and expanded guide was written in cooperation with Migrant-Rights.org. Illustrations are by Marcelle Louw.
These tips were provided by Yasin Kakande, Ugandan journalist deported for covering migrant worker issues in the United Arab Emirates. Media Environment
A journalist seeking to write about human trafficking in the UAE has to understand that any writing seen as contrary to the government narrative is a punishable offense.