Interviews were conducted with 38 workers from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal employed by various foreign and Saudi companies, including contractors and labor suppliers involved in the Riyadh Metro project.
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Amnesty International released a report on Tuesday alleging abuse and exploitation of workers on Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Metro project.
The report says that migrant workers, including Nepalis, who arrived to work after paying high recruitment fees, were forced to work in dangerously hot conditions for low wages.
Amnesty has released a report titled ‘Nobody wants to work in these conditions: Decades of exploitation in the Riyadh Metro project’. The Riyadh Metro, considered a major infrastructure project in Saudi Arabia, has been promoted as the backbone of the public transport system. It has recently come into operation. International and Saudi companies are involved in its construction. There are plans to expand it further.
‘The Riyadh Metro is praised as the backbone of the capital’s transport system. But beneath its glittering façade, the human rights of migrant workers are being trampled,” said Marta Saf, Amnesty International’s Climate, Economic, Social Justice and Corporate Accountability Programme Director. “These workers, already burdened by high recruitment fees, are forced to work long hours in extremely difficult conditions for very low wages.” She said the Saudi government had failed to provide workers with adequate protection and to change a system that exposes them to high levels of exploitation and exploitation in the face of rising temperatures caused by human-induced climate change. Amnesty interviewed 38 workers from Bangladesh, India and Nepal who were employed by various foreign and Saudi companies, including main contractors, subcontractors and labour suppliers, involved in the construction of the Riyadh Metro system between 2014 and 2025. The workers said agents forced them to pay recruitment fees and related costs ranging from $700 to $3,500. As a result, they are burdened with debt and abuse, according to the Amnesty report.
This fee is much higher than the limits set by the sending countries. Saudi law prohibits charging such recruitment fees from workers, but it has not stopped it.
Suman (name changed) from Nepal told Amnesty that he was forced to sell his wife's gold to pay exorbitant fees for work that pays a minimum of $266 per month. 'I paid one lakh rupees (700 US dollars) to the agent. After my travel, medical check-ups and other paperwork, I ended up spending two lakh rupees (1,400 US dollars). I borrowed some gold from my wife's mother and sold it. And, I saved up the money. Later, when the price of gold rose, I had to pay almost double when I returned it. It took me six months to repay the loan,' he said.
Workers are paid less than $2 an hour and are made to work more than 60 hours a week, Amnesty said. They have no choice but to work overtime due to the extremely low wages. “The government’s failure to set a minimum wage that is sufficient to cover all living expenses has further reduced the wages of migrant workers who are already discriminated against. This has deprived them of a decent standard of living,” the report said.
Workers working on the Riyadh Metro project said they had to endure unbearable heat for long periods. “In summer, temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius for more than eight hours a day. Saudi Arabia has banned outdoor work in direct sunlight between 12 noon and 3 pm. The measures taken to protect workers are completely inadequate,” the report said.
Amnesty claims that despite limited reforms in Saudi Arabia, the kafala system still persists in practice. ‘The focus is on monitoring the legal status of migrant workers rather than ensuring their rights. There is weak enforcement of labor protection rules and abusive labor practices. In such a situation, it is essential for companies to proactively adopt a high level of human rights vigilance to prevent potential human rights violations,’ the report states.
Amnesty says that due to excessive subcontracting, even large multinational companies are at high risk of being directly or indirectly involved in labor exploitation.
As Saudi Arabia moves forward with its mega-projects, including the 2034 World Cup, Amnesty has made it clear that it is not possible to ensure the safety of migrant workers without completely abolishing the kafala system. Amnesty has also warned companies not to engage in projects without a detailed assessment to ensure they have high levels of human rights due diligence.
