Within the report, HRW documents unpaid wages, forced relocation of workers, abrupt contractual changes, inadequate safety measures, and otherwise inappropriate working conditions. Typically, the process would involve migrants paying recruitment agencies for the opportunity to work within Saudi Arabia. Afterward, employers often stop paying employees wages or force them to work lower-paying jobs than initially promised, with limited potential for the workers to negotiate or object to the changes. HRW is particularly concerned about these abuses in light of Saudi Arabia’s bidding for the 2034 World Cup, and the possibility of further abuses of workers used in the building of stadiums and infrastructure for the event.
HRW argues much of the problem with poor labor rights stems from Saudi Arabia’s system of Kafalah, where the rights of an employee to work in Saudi Arabia hinge on the continuous sponsorship of their employer. If an employer revokes the sponsorship, workers might be unable to stay in the country or switch jobs. Further, workers’s collective bargaining and freedom of expression rights are limited in Saudi Arabia. While there have been some reforms by the Saudi government to address job mobility restrictions, such as the “Labor Reform Initiative” (LRI) which Saudi Arabia argues enables migrants in the country to change jobs legally, HRW argues these initiatives are inadequate and often poorly enforced, pointing to cases of migrants being forced to sign contracts barring them from changing job.
In response to these concerns, HRW fielded a series of suggestions to government and private sector agencies in Saudi Arabia and the home countries of migrant workers. Targeted toward the Saudi government, recommendations include strengthening labor regulations and safety standards and revoking Saudi’s work visa laws. HRW also recommends migrants’ home countries legally workers engage in more frequent dialogue with Saudi Arabia to ensure their nationals are subject to appropriate labor standards and freedom of movement.
Saudi Arabia has come under prior criticism for human rights abuses, including previous complaints of labor rights violations, arbitrary arrest, and the use of intimidation to suppress dissent. Despite these complaints, Saudi Arabia remains a signatory to multiple International Labour Organization (ILO) treaties and conventions, including Convention CO29 which advocates the prohibition of all forms of forced labor, and Convention C095, which prohibits payment as a condition to work and the arbitrary withholding of wages by employers. Moreover, under FIFA bidding protocols, a host nation for the World Cup must “[respect] international human rights and labor standards according to the United Nations’ Guiding Principles”.
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