On 4 December 2024, a former Nepalese migrant worker who was based in Saudi Arabia wrote, I borrowed US$1,115 at a 42 percent interest rate from family members to pay the agent the recruitment expenses. I was assigned as a laborer at a furniture factory where I had to carry loads, despite being assured that I would be working as a server in a hotel. I didn’t have a contract. I had to work 14 hours a day, but my [promised] monthly income was SAR 1200 [$346] for eight hours. For the first two months, I received my paycheck on schedule, but after that, I never received it. My manager would say, “Die first, and I’ll pay you later,” in response to my requests for payment.
The main driver of Saudi Arabia’s enormous construction development is migrant labor. In Saudi Arabia, there are 13.4 million migrant workers, or 42% of the total population. However, despite their invaluable contributions, Human Rights Watch has discovered that migrant workers face pervasive labor abuses across employment sectors and geographic regions. This conclusion is based on interviews conducted between 2023 and 2024 with 156 Saudi Arabian workers, either current or former, or workers’ family members.
The Saudi government is routinely failing to stop these atrocities and protect them. The 2034 World Cup, which the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has planned to give to Saudi Arabia as the lone bidder, is very likely to be marred by widespread rights breaches due to this flagrant inability to safeguard migrant laborers. According to the FIFA bidding materials, the World Cup will be the biggest to be hosted by a single nation and will require extensive new development, including the building of eleven new stadiums and four renovated ones, more than 185,000 additional hotel rooms, and a major expansion of the airport, road, rail, and bus networks.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia and is largely responsible for sports promotion. His Vision 2030 economic reform plan aims to make Saudi Arabia a “global investment powerhouse,” and to achieve this, Saudi authorities have already made significant investments in a number of elite sports clubs and industries. One of the major planned projects that would require substantial development under Vision 2030 is the FIFA World Cup. Throughout the last five years, Saudi Arabia’s government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on megaprojects and self-described “giga-projects” all throughout the nation as part of a petro-wealth spending binge.
Washington Center condemns the human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. Here is a way they treat their workers. A 170-kilometer-long by more than 320-kilometer-wide vertical “smart” city, a “Dragon Ball” theme park situated on 50 hectares of land, a high-end ski resort in the heart of the desert, and the longest infinity pool in the world, hung more than 61 meters over the Red Sea, are among the projects that have been announced. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, is in the forefront of turning these ideas from management consultant-abetted dreams into funded realities. The projected PIF investments, which include the $50 billion Red Sea project and the anticipated $500 billion futuristic NEOM project, are astounding.
The 142 migratory laborers, who are stationed in places ranging from Tabuk in the northwest to Abha in the southwest, include both current and past employees. The employees worked in a variety of industries, such as retail, private health care, hospitality, and construction. Additionally, 14 relatives of Saudi Arabian laborers lost their lives. Migrant workers continue to experience pervasive labor violations at every stage of the “migration cycle,” which is consistent with other studies conducted over the previous 20 years.
Even when they return home, migrant laborers and their families suffer long-lasting health effects from the abuses associated with excessive heat, such as organ failure brought on by exposure to extreme heat and inexplicable, uninvestigated fatalities for which families are not compensated. When Saudi labor legislation is broken, employers are rarely held accountable by the government.
Washington Center condemns that employers in Saudi Arabia continue to violate their employment contracts by refusing to pay migrant workers their due salaries and that the abuses begin when they illegally compel workers to pay astronomical recruiting costs. At the same time, businesses expose employees to significant risks on the working site, such as excessive heat connected to climate change for outdoor workers.