I can already show up at a US embassy or consulate anywhere in the world and provide them my passport serial number to have a new one cut in an hour if I've lost mine, the gap to close is not big policy wise. Otherwise, we're relying on "magic government credential" which can be held hostage to hold a human hostage. Silliness.
(India maintains the largest biometrics ID system in the world, Aadhaar, containing the records of 1.3B people: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2022/0425...)
If countries sending folks to these places are complacent, certainly, the problem scope and level of effort required expands rapidly.
"We can solve this today; if you're asserting we can't, be prepared to prove it before the audience expands to encourage accountability." Whether that audience is higher up the leadership ladder, adversarial peer stakeholders more motivated to succeed, the general public, regulators/legislators, or journalists is situation specific.
When there's a will, there's a way.
Unfortunately, in this situation, there's no will.
Yes, there are other factors such as bonded labor, indemnities and local laws taking precedence. But this is such an obvious abuse factor, it makes sense to remove it. Of all the ways to do it, whether it's paid lockers and so on – what the parent comment said is still a cheap way.
Sure, but the local government wants it that way.
They won't be the ones to change it!
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...
> A valid passport is required for U.S. citizens to enter or exit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
I think it would be better to legally force all these migrants back into their countries every couple of months just to make sure they're not being kept by force. Fighting abuse costs money, it's expensive, I know but Saudis can afford it.
And even now if you are working in the middle of the desert can you even go to the airport without your employer help ?
Do you have any sources to confirm this?
My father worked in Kuwait as an engineer and his passport was locked in a file cabinet at the office, which was unfortunate because he had to fetch it while avoiding gunfire when Saddam Hussein's forces attacked in 1990.
It was worth it though, as the document saved his life when Iraqis mistook him for an American and wanted to execute him on that basis.