Foreign staff at Saudi construction firm United Seemac were told...they must give up on receiving pay arrears if they want to get their passports back and leave the kingdom...most permits for foreign staff expired last year and the company has not paid to have them renewed. This has resulted in workers being trapped in company accommodation, too scared to go outside as they face arrest for being in Saudi Arabia illegally.

“The situation is getting worse day by day,” one staff member said...“There is no water for toilets and the kitchen - people have to go to the mosque to use the bathroom.” “No action is being taken against the company,” he said, explaining that United Seemac staff have tried to get the courts to intervene for the past nine months...The labour courts have done nothing to uphold a 2015 law that prohibited employers from confiscating workers’ passports. Two strikes outside company offices have taken place...despite protests and public demonstrations being strictly banned in Saudi Arabia [also refers to Saudi Binladin Group, Saudi Oger].