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Aishal Hab Yousuf
17 March 2026 |
In the evolving multipolar world order, the resource-rich states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the region have become financially sound middle states. By using their sovereign wealth, energy resources, and strategic geographical positioning, these countries position themselves as middle powers in the region. They are in the throes of their economic modernization and global branding in the backdrop of complicated domestic political structures. The Human Rights Watch’s 2026 report, however refers to a paradox, that with increased modernization and global outreach, legal and political repression also increases.
The following are the major takeaways of the HRW report on limited civic space and increased labour rights violations in the Middle East.
1. Legal systems as instruments of political control
An increasingly worrying trend in Saudi Arabia and the UAE is the use of legal and formal frameworks to repress dissent. In Saudi Arabia, laws to counter cybercrime, national security threats, and terrorism have often been used to accuse and prosecute critics of the state, journalists, and religious leaders. Rights organisations consider the definition of terrorism to be ambiguous, leaving room to prosecute peaceful dissent.
Like Saudi Arabia, the UAE also employs terrorism laws and legislation regarding cybercrime to suppress political opposition. The Human Rights Watch, 2026, reports that Emirati authorities upheld convictions against political activists during mass trials, which were associated with limited legal access and opaque due process. This also calls into question the judiciary's independence.
2. Politicized justice and Due process violations
Reports show that courts in Saudi Arabia depend on inconspicuous trials and confessions received under conditions of immense stress. Recent trends observe a surge in the scale of capital punishments. 2025 marked a record high of 356 executions, where most of the crimes were accusations of non-violent drug offences. Of these, over seventy per cent are foreign nationals.
Most observers hold the belief that these practices challenge international legal customs that subjects death penalty only to the most heinous crimes. Journalists’ accounts describe that a significant portion of these cases involved migrant labourers who lacked access to proper legal representation. This leads to the corollary that judicial processes focus more on deterrence and the regime's authority than on free and fair procedures.
The UAE, too, has similar instances. Political dissidents who had previously been convicted were tried again on overlapping charges, thereby giving rise to double jeopardy. This distressing pattern also depicts the judiciary as a tool for the regime’s smooth survival rather than an independent institution.
3. Economic modernization without political liberalization
Despite severe restrictions in the domestic sphere, both states work as reformed and open in the global arena. Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation strategy and preparations for major global sporting events are part of the nation’s long-term vision to make it a modern investment hub. Critics have termed this ‘sports washing’, in which major international sporting events are held to portray the society as open, while human rights are severely curtailed.
This contrast is prominently visible in mega infrastructure projects tied to future prosperity. Investigations have reported severe conditions of migrant labourers during construction booms. These conditions are characterised by safety concerns, exploitative wages, and, in some cases, also death.
In recent times, the UAE has also marketed itself as a hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic openness. In line with this development, authorities have enhanced digital governance and improved the Wage Protection System to monitor salary payments electronically across the private sector. Despite this, critics believe that modernisation reforms are intended only to project legitimacy in international forums, rather than to genuinely expand individual and political freedoms.
4. Migrant labour and Structural economic dependence
A large part of the political economy in the Middle East relies on migrant labour, regulated through a sponsorship system known as the ‘Kafala’ system, which gives employers control over their employees' mobility. While the UAE’s wage monitoring and policy reforms signal official acknowledgement of wage exploitation, reports of unpaid wages continue to emerge. There are little to no labour organisations, or trade unions, and even if formed, their legality can be questioned since the current legal infrastructure is not supportive of labour organisations and/or trade unions. The current economic model relies on the exploitation of migrant labour, incentivising surface reforms rather than deep transformation.
Saudi Arabia is also scrutinised on similar lines. Human rights organisations have documented hazardous working conditions and poor investigations to worker deaths during the construction of major development projects, showing how labour exploitation persists within economic modernisation policies.
5. Transnational repression and Shrinking civic space
One of the more concerning trends is the globalisation of repression beyond national borders. The governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE now increasingly use surveillance technologies, travel restrictions, and legal measures against political dissidents residing abroad.
A landmark judgement exemplifying this occurred in January 2026, when a UK High Court ordered the state of Saudi Arabia to pay over £3 million in damages to exiled political critic Ghanem al-Masarir. The court upheld Masarir’s plea that state-linked actors engaged in surveillance and harassment against him in London. The judgment showed how digital surveillance enabled authoritarian states to extend their repression across their jurisdiction, curtailing dissent globally.
These developments indicate a broader shift: sovereign authoritarian governance is no longer restricted to their territories alone. It’s now spreading through technology, enabling states to intimidate dissidents while maintaining international economic ties with other nation-states.
Aishal Hab Yousuf is a postgraduate student at the Department of International Studies, Stella Maris College, Chennai
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Aishal Hab Yousuf, "Economic modernization without political liberalization, Legal systems as instruments of political control, Shrinking civic space and Sports Washing: Five Takeaways of the HRW Report 2026 on the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and the UAE)," 17 March 2026
