Saudi Arabia: ILO forced labor complaint sounds alarm bells

(Geneva) – Saudi Arabia The lawsuit filed by global unions against the Saudi government is a major warning to Saudi authorities, as well as the country’s businesses and investors, that government policies will lead to foreseeable and preventable migrant labor abuses. 2030 Vision Human Rights Watch said today that the program relies on millions of migrant workers.

In the following complaints Article 24 of the ILO Constitution On June 5, the Building and Carpenters’ Union International, which has 12 million members,British West Indies) highlights the exploitative living and working conditions of China’s more than 1 million migrant workers. 13.4 million The ILO complaint comes ahead of an upcoming July decision by FIFA, the governing body that controls international soccer, to approve Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, a move that has seen the country become a “Sole bidder”, in violation of FIFA’s own Human rights rules and human rights and labor due diligence requirements.

“The ILO complaint about forced labor should serve as a wake-up call for Saudi authorities to redress past abuses, including the nonpayment of wages to tens of thousands of migrant workers,” he said. Minky WardenDirector of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “The global unions’ complaint should be seen as a warning to businesses and organizations, such as FIFA, planning large events and actions in Saudi Arabia, given the government’s apparent failure to protect migrant workers from exploitation and abuse by their employers.”

BWI’s complaint is based on a range of evidence, including: Tens of thousands of workers and Wages owed Testimonies from two Saudi construction companies that went bankrupt in 2016, and from 193 migrant workers who experienced a range of abuses, including restrictions on freedom of movement, intimidation and threats, withholding of identity documents, debt bondage, poor working and living conditions, and excessive overtime. The harm caused by these abuses was further exacerbated by the fact that workers were denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

BWI complain It cited numerous cases of abuse of migrant workers and noted that Saudi Arabia had failed to implement several international treaties it had ratified, including the Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) and its 2014 Protocol.

A representative case of this complaint involves the currentLiquidation From 1990 to 2015, Saudi Oghur faced severe financial hardship due to salary deductions, transfer restrictions, and had to survive on discarded food. He eventually died of a heart attack. Ten years later, his family remains trapped in a cycle of debt and vulnerability, and has yet to receive compensation. Riyadh Enforcement Court estimated In 2019, Saudi Aoge owed workers about 2.6 billion Saudi riyals (about $693 million) in unpaid wages and other benefits. Although some repayments have begun nearly a decade later, Human Rights Watch Research This suggests that the process is fraught with problems.

Although labor Reform measures These measures have so far failed to adequately protect migrant workers. Research Human Rights Watch has also documented widespread and ongoing wage theft by employers, with many recently fired workers returning home without receiving their due wages.

Abuse in Saudi Arabia Kafara The labor sponsorship system for foreign workers gives employers excessive power over their mobility and legal status in the country, including the ability of workers to quit. A BWI survey of 193 migrant workers included in the complaint showed that 63% were not free to terminate their employment with reasonable notice or to take vacation after their contract expired. In addition, 85% of indebted workers were unable to leave their jobs freely, 65% were unable to obtain documents such as passports, and 46% reported that their employers withheld or withheld wages to force them to stay.

“These cases and statistics are sobering and worrying for the people who came to Saudi Arabia to better support their families back home,” Worden said. “It is clear that the Saudi labor system gives employers excessive control over workers, allowing them to commit egregious abuses with impunity.”

FIFA continues to turn a blind eye to this situation. When FIFA designated Qatar as the host country for the World Cup in 2010, it failed to conduct human rights due diligence on the precarious situation of millions of players. Migrant Workers They need to build stadiums and hotels under the Kafala government in Qatar FIFA’s failure to conduct human rights due diligence was evident when unions, including BWI, filed forced labor complaints 2014 vs Qatarhighlighting widespread labor exploitation.

Qatar’s ILO complaint helped push for labor reforms in the country. However, Human Rights Watch Research This suggests that the reforms came too late, were too limited and too narrow. Many migrant workers contributing to the 2022 World Cup have suffered a series of abuses, including unexplained deaths and wage theft. call Calls to correct these abuses have also been ignored by FIFA and Qatari authorities. heritage 2022 World Cup– Mention It was hailed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino as “the best World Cup ever” – but it also left lasting damage to many migrant workers and their families in Asia and Africa.

“FIFA has clearly not learned the lesson from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar that hosting a World Cup without human rights and forced labor protections will lead to catastrophic abuses,” Walden said.

FIFA has not yet made public any plans to assess risks, monitor or enforce worker protection standards for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. In 2023, FIFA commissioned an independent review of its remedies for rights violations. The report Not yet released This is despite the urgent need to compensate workers who suffered losses during the construction and service of the 2022 World Cup.

In addition to the 2034 World Cup, other large and mega projects in Saudi Arabia also fall under the purview of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, such as the futuristic Neom CityIt will also rely on a large construction workforce, which is poorly protected by Saudi Arabia’s labor system.

As multinational corporations flock to Saudi Arabia to profit from these mega-projects, their corporate sponsors risk causing, exacerbating, or being directly linked to widespread migrant rights violations in Saudi Arabia unless they exercise rigorous due diligence to ensure their activities do not further violate migrant rights.

“The billions of dollars Saudi authorities are spending to whitewash and polish their abysmal human rights reputation would be better invested in effectively implementing the labor reforms they have promised but so far failed to deliver,” Walden said.