Arab Gulf states have agreed with the recommendations of Asian labour-exporting countries designed to minimise exploitative recruitment practices that some pressure groups claim leave many migrant workers in circumstances approximating bonded labour.

A forum in Abu Dhabi called on the Gulf states and Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines to uphold existing regulations on labour conditions while holding to account Asian recruitment agencies that mislead migrant workers about conditions and pay in the Gulf and leave many labourers in debt.