Since migrant workers started to break their fear and reveal their conditions in the Kingdom—particularly those hired for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) Vision 2030 projects—international and Arab organisations and associations have voiced their dissatisfaction with the state of human rights concerning the working conditions of these workers in Saudi Arabia. Human rights associations and organisations received complaints about workers being humiliated and having their salaries neglected.
Several human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, called on the Saudi government to ensure the rights of migrant workers in the Kingdom.
The rights organisations also demanded that the Saudi Ministry of Labour implement stringent measures against businesses, individuals, and establishments engaged in the practice of wage theft, which has proliferated throughout the Kingdom and exposes a large number of workers. This theft occurs when an employee is coerced into accepting a meagre pay and signing an annual wage statement that is worth more than the salary he actually receives.
Human rights activists urged the Saudi government, represented by the Ministry of Labour, to uphold the necessity and significance of carrying out the conditions of the contracts granted to foreign employees. They also asked the Ministry to examine the employees’ financial rights using the bank payment system rather than relying solely on the employers’ paperwork attesting to the employees’ pay.
The Saudi government and the worker’s state typically fail to adequately protect the rights of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, particularly those who work as employees in homes or institutions. The vast majority of labourers leave on the basis of well-defined agreements and contracts, only to have their passports revoked the moment they set foot in the Kingdom. Before the institution or sponsor begins successive waivers of its rights.
The Executive Court in Riyadh estimated in 2019 that the now-liquidated Saudi Oger owes an estimated SAR 2.6 billion in unpaid wages and other benefits to workers from the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
The workers who received their pay cheques have trouble withdrawing them from the accounts of the organisations where they are employed, even in spite of the numerous demands and the Saudi authorities’ repeated assurances that they will ensure wage payments. This is because the intricate banking processes that obstruct them seem like intentional actions.
Given the terrible living conditions that most foreign workers endure, the relevant authorities must act quickly to guarantee that workers’ rights are upheld, shield them from injustice, and stop their entitlements from being stolen.
