In October 2024, Amnesty Intl. released a new report - "“I would fear going to work”: Labour exploitation at Carrefour sites in Saudi Arabia” - revealing migrant workers employed by labour suppliers working at Carrefour sites in Saudi Arabia experienced egregious labour rights violations and exploitative working conditions, including key elements of forced labour. Amnesty Intl. also found Carrefour had “failed to take action to prevent the abuses”.

The report builds on research the NGO conducted in 2023 on human rights violations experienced by workers employed by the labour supply company Al-Mutairi, among other companies, contracted to work at Amazon warehouses in Saudi Arabia.

Al Mutairi also supplies workers to Carrefour sites, which operates in Saudi Arabia through its franchisee Majid Al Futtaim (MAF). The findings are based on interviews with 17 men from South Asia, including India, Nepal and Pakistan, employed by four third-party contractors used by MAF. The two principal companies supplying migrant workers to Majid Al Futtaim are Al-Mutairi and Badoor Najed, two others were unnamed.

Workers reported several human rights violations, including:

• Extortionate recruitment fee charging averaging USD 1,200 under false promises of direct employment, with workers taking on high-interest loans to cover the costs.
• Overwork and underpayment, with workers “regularly” working 60-hour weeks and sometimes working up to 16-hour days. Workers were not paid overtime for these additional hours.
• Unsuitable living conditions provided by labour suppliers, including six people sharing a single room.
• Barriers raising grievances and accessing remedy. Workers said that if they raised complaints or refused overtime work, they risked losing their job and not being paid until they found new employment. The report describes a “culture of fear” at Carrefour sites that left workers unable to stand up for their rights. Carrefour and Majid Al Futtaim’s grievance mechanisms were also found to be ineffective.

Carrefour and MAF reportedly failed to have adequate human rights due diligence in place commensurate with the high risk of abuse in Saudi Arabia, where migrant workers are particularly vulnerable due to the abusive kafala sponsorship system. Amnesty Intl. argue Carrefour, MAF and the labour supply companies have a responsibility to remedy the workers for the reported human rights violations, including through the provision of compensation, the reimbursement of recruitment fee charges and stolen wages, and other remediation measures. Additionally, Carrefour should review its existing due diligence policies and practices.

Carrefour and MAF have since said they have launched an internal investigation into the findings, and Carrefour instructed a third-party audit of its franchise partner’s operations.

In October, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Carrefour, Majid Al Futtaim and Badoor Najed to respond to the allegations outlined in the report and provide information on any planned or actual remedy that has taken place for current and former contracted workers who suffered abuses, including: 1) by when it will be administered, and b) the form redress will take. Further, the Resource Centre also asked Carrefour and Majid Al Futtaim to disclose the outcomes of their joint investigation into working conditions, and to disclose the results of Carrefour’s externally commissioned audit into Majid Al Futtaim operations. Carrefour and Majid Al Futtaim’s responses can be read in full below. Badoor Najed did not respond.

The Resource Centre was not able to contact Al Mutairi to invite a response to the allegations; if a response is received in future this page will be updated accordingly.