kafala

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic كَفَالَة (kafāla).

Noun

kafala (uncountable)

1. (Islam) A form of Islamic adoption in which the child is not regarded as a true child of the adoptive parents.
2. A sponsorship system in the Middle East, used to monitor migrant labourers, mostly in the construction and domestic sectors.
   • 2015 July 15, Barry Meier, “Labor Scrutiny for FIFA as a World Cup Rises in the Desert”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Officials in Qatar have said that companies building World Cup stadiums will be held to higher standards of worker treatment, and proposed changes to the kafala system are undergoing legislative review.

Related terms

• kafeel

Anagrams

• falaka