Abdulilah al-Howeiti and Abdullah Dukhail al-Howeiti are members of the Howeitat, a tribe in Saudi Arabia forcibly displaced to make way for the $500bn Neom megacity. In August 2022, they were sentenced to 50 years in prison and banned from travelling for supporting the community's fight against evictions from their homes in the Tabuk province of northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The new megacity will include a 170km straight line city, an eight-sided city that floats on water, and a ski resort with a folded vertical village, among other projects. The tribe and human rights groups have previously raised their concerns with the companies working on Neom, including an open letter to three consultancies shortly after the killing of rights defender Abdul Rahim.

Commenting on the recent long sentences, Boston Consulting Group spokesperson said: “We do not comment about specific clients and projects to protect client confidentiality.” The other two companies, McKinsey and Oliver Wyman, did not respond to Middle East Eye's request.