“Workers’ rights in Saudi Arabia still an issue ahead of 2034 World Cup, says charity”

An international charity has warned multinational companies bidding for World Cup-related projects in Saudi Arabia — and any migrant workers considering going to the kingdom between now and 2034 — that the Gulf state remains an extremely risky environment for labour rights.

In an article published on the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s website to mark Wednesday’s International Migrants Day, senior researcher Isobel Archer wrote that “companies seeking to cash in on a Saudi World Cup must be alert to these risks”.

The charity has been tracking reports of abuse of migrant workers since 2022 and it has found that despite only accounting for six per cent of the global population, the Middle East and North Africa region is responsible for a third of all cases in its database, with 94 per cent of those coming from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia, by far the largest of the Gulf states, accounts for 82 of the region’s 490 cases, with numerous reports of wage theft, illegal recruitment fees, verbal and physical abuse, inadequate living standards, barriers to legal remedy and health and safety breaches…