Trade unions from 36 countries protest against Saudi Arabia’s treatment of migrant workers

Trade unions from 36 countries have filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization (ILO) over the treatment of migrant labourers in Saudi Arabia, The Guardian has reported. 

The joint submission called for a “commission of inquiry” into labour rights in the kingdom – one of the most important tools available to the UN agency. 

“This is a call for immediate action towards genuine, inclusive and collaborative reform,” said Luc Triangle, the secretary-general of the International Trade Union Confederation.

“We cannot tolerate another death of a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia. We cannot remain silent while migrant workers, especially construction and domestic workers, continue to face fundamental rights violations. This has to stop now.”

The complaint comes as development and construction ramp up in Saudi Arabia ahead of its hosting the 2034 Fifa World Cup. 

This week, the kingdom signed a cooperation agreement with the ILO on the sidelines of its annual conference in Geneva. Under the agreement, which initially lasts for two years, Riyadh is expected to align its labour laws with international standards. 

The agreement reportedly includes measures to support fair recruitment, make it easier for labourers to switch jobs, introduce a minimum wage and include migrant workers on workers’ representative committees. 

It also includes commitments to improve compensation for workers who are injured or killed. 

However, trade unionists from several delegations think the reforms did not go far enough. Unions from the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia and 13 African countries were among those to sign the complaint, which was fiercely opposed by the Saudis. 

“Africans go to Saudi Arabia looking for life but come back in coffins,” said Omar Osman, the general secretary of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions and one of the signatories. 

The complaint, seen by The Guardian, lists several cases of alleged forced labour, human trafficking, wage theft, and sexual and physical abuse of migrant labourers. 

Migrant worker deaths

Last month, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia had died in horrific, avoidable workplace incidents – including falls from buildings, electrocutions and decapitations. 

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on foreign labour to power its economy.

Of a population of around 34 million, over 13 million are migrants, primarily from South and Southeast Asia and parts of Africa, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

These workers dominate sectors such as construction, domestic work, sanitation and hospitality – often performing some of the most dangerous and low-paid jobs in the country.

Despite existing Saudi laws mandating occupational safety measures and employer accountability, the HRW report revealed systemic failures in protecting workers, investigating deaths and ensuring compensation.

The report also documented disturbing patterns of deaths being misclassified as “natural causes”, even in cases where the fatal injuries occurred on worksites.

HRW interviewed the families of 31 deceased workers, mostly from Bangladesh, India and Nepal, who died in Saudi Arabia between the ages of 23 and 52. In several cases, families reported they were left in the dark about the cause and circumstances of their relatives’ deaths.

Employers often delayed or refused to repatriate remains and personal belongings and, in some cases, pressured families to accept burial in Saudi Arabia in exchange for modest financial compensation.

In one case, the son of a Bangladeshi man who died of electrocution said the employer made compensation conditional on agreeing to bury his father in Saudi Arabia.

The family refused and had to borrow over $4,000 to repatriate the body, only to receive less compensation than their incurred debt.

Most migrant workers enter Saudi Arabia under the kafala sponsorship system, which legally binds a worker’s immigration status to a specific employer.

Despite recent reforms that allowed some workers to change jobs without employer consent, many are still vulnerable to exploitation, forced labour, wage theft and harsh working conditions.

A New York Times report in March found that at least 274 Kenyan workers, most of whom were women, had died in Saudi Arabia over the past five years despite being a young workforce in non-dangerous jobs. 

Large numbers of Ugandan workers had also died in the Gulf kingdom during that time.

Every year, thousands of Ugandan and Kenyan women travel to Saudi Arabia to take up domestic jobs such as housekeepers and nannies. Many return with stories of unpaid wages, detention, beatings, starvation and sexual assault. Others return in coffins. 

Among those who died, autopsies often revealed evidence of trauma such as burns and electric shocks. However, Saudi authorities recorded the deaths as natural causes.