# The kafala sponsorship system > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The kafala sponsorship system," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-kafala-sponsorship-system/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The Saudi sponsorship regime as John Kiriakou describes it, a Saudi national must own the majority of any company a foreigner works for, that sponsor holds the worker's passport, and a falling-out leaves the worker under effective house arrest, which he says is how South Asian women brought in as domestics are kept as sex slaves.* - **The requirement:** A named Saudi sponsor on the visa application - **The ownership rule:** A Saudi must be the majority shareholder, you own 49%, a Saudi owns 51% - **The passport:** Held by the sponsor - **If there is a falling-out:** 'You''re essentially under house arrest because you can''t go anywhere' - **Kiriakou''s verdict when asked if it is true:** 'Yes, that is true' - **What he says it enables:** Keeping South Asian women brought in as domestics, nannies and English teachers as sex slaves **The kafala sponsorship system** is the arrangement governing foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, which [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) confirmed and described in September 2025 when a viewer asked whether it was true that a worker is assigned a handler, has their passport taken and can leave only with permission. His answer was one word, *"Yes, that is true"*, and both hosts agreed it is *"a serious human rights problem."*[1] ## How it works *"You have to be sponsored. So you have to say on your visa application who your sponsor is. A Saudi has to be the majority shareholder of whatever company you're working for."* There is no way around it: *"you can't just go to Saudi Arabia and say, I'm going to open an LLC and we're going to make widgets. Uh-uh. You're going to open an LLC that you own 49% of. Some random Saudi is going to own 51%."*[2] The leverage is documentary. *"The Saudi is going to hold your passport. And if he doesn't like your face, or you have a fight or a falling out over money, then you're essentially under house arrest because you can't go anywhere."*[2] ## What Kiriakou says it is used for He does not leave the consequence abstract. *"That's how they keep especially South Asian women as sex slaves. They hire them as domestics, nannies, English teachers, and then they arrive"*, the sponsor takes the passport, and the arrangement becomes something else entirely.[3] His assessment of the country that runs it is unqualified, *"I hated it there"*, and his aside on the relationship is a single line: *"good thing we're so close to them."*[3][4] ## See also - [Saudi Arabia as an open-air prison](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saudi-arabia-as-an-open-air-prison) - [The Saudi demand for a political appointee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-saudi-demand-for-a-political-appointee) - [Expulsion of Palestinians from the Gulf](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/palestinians-in-the-gulf) - [Gulf security bargain](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/gulf-security-bargain) - [Composition of the Saudi military](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saudi-military-composition) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 11:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=692s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 12:02. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=722s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 12:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=753s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 13:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=783s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-kafala-sponsorship-system/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt