In its new report, “Nobody wants to work in these situations”: A decade of exploitation on the Riyadh Metro project, Amnesty details how migrant labourers from Bangladesh, India and Nepal were subjected to illegal recruitment fees, punishing heat, poverty wages and a catalogue of degrading conditions between 2014 and 2025.
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The report highlights that such abuses are rooted in a structural environment where the remnants of the kafala sponsorship system still enable employers to control workers’ lives. Weak labour inspections, reduced penalties for abusive practices and a sprawling subcontracting network create fertile ground for exploitation—conditions Amnesty says multinational companies knowingly operate within.
With Saudi Arabia racing ahead on mega-projects and preparing to host the 2034 World Cup, Amnesty is calling on authorities to dismantle the kafala system entirely, enforce labour protections and ensure accountability across the recruitment chain. Companies, it warns, must conduct rigorous human rights due diligence or refrain from operating in high-risk sectors that entrench abuse.