RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Diya TV) — A new documentary, Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia, revealed the death toll of over 21,000 foreign laborers from India, Bangladesh, and Nepal who have died since construction started on the megacity of Saudi Arabia called NEOM and others in the Vision 2030 initiative that began in 2016.
The documentary, by ITV, is an inside view of the working conditions for the laborers, who have 16-hour days, without safety guarantees and 1-hour unpaid commutes. According to the film reports, workers on “The Line,” a 170 km long linear city within NEOM, work so much over the legal limits that they can only doze off for minutes or hours at night, one of the leading causes behind the high percentage of workplace accidents. One worker said, “We get tired. We suffer from anxiety day and night,” referring to the exhausting shifts and fear of injury.
Vision 2030, launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is meant to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from dependence on oil. But the grand development effort has been tainted by widespread allegations of human rights abuses. The migrant workers make up the majority of the workforce and are subjected to exploitative conditions that go against international labor standards. According to Nicholas McGeehan, a member of the human rights group FairSquare, the treatment of these workers is “deeply abusive” and is a systemic problem across the country.
NEOM is also said to be home to a futuristic floating city and a luxury resort as Saudi Arabia markets it as the jewel of its economic transformation. However, regarding labor rights, the future of the kingdom is a bit of concern. Management of Neom said their company is checking these claims and would accordingly take the necessary steps. As claimed by its management, contractors working for the company are supposed to respect both Saudi law and International Labor Organization, and there have been audits regularly.
Despite these assurances, the death toll of thousands of workers continues to plague Vision 2030. The revelations of the movie have again called for adequate protection of migrant labor by international human rights groups while many are under the patronage of the Kafala system, which ties workers’ residency status to their employer, thereby limiting their liberty to change jobs or depart from the country.
