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The Plight of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia

            It is common knowledge that more than half of the workforce in Saudi Arabia is obtained from migrant workers. It is expected that since they are so important to the economy of the country, then they be treated benevolently. However, this is not the case in some situations since some employers may not treat them well. Several stories of foreigners who traveled to Saudi Arabia in search of employment, and were not treated according to standard have circulated all over the world. Such is the story of Mohamed Sakoor, a young Sri Lankan national. He had gone to Saudi for employment as a wageworker since he had no chances in his native country. He signed a two-year contract with his employer on the terms and conditions of the job he was to obtain. Sakoor then traveled to Saudi for his job with high hopes. They were crushed when he arrived and called his employer. The employer asked him to travel to the place of work in a taxi. The problem was that Sakoor had absolutely no money. He stayed in the airport for two days until one taxi driver accepted to buy his watch. With this little money, he was able to get to the location of work. He was overworked and not paid any overtime for the extra hours he had worked. The plight of the Saudi Arabian migrant wageworkers should be taken into consideration by the Saudi government and the other countries’ whose citizens work there (Standing, 1). This is because they are paid meager wages since they come from poor countries where what they earn would be considered a fortune.

The Saudi government should take action against such employers in the country. If the government set up laws and regulations against this practice, it will surely stop. However, since the laws that are in place do not cover all migrant issues, some employers can pay their employees as they wish. The government should enforce laws that protect the employees from such poor pay. For instance, on the breach of the employment contract by the employer, the employee should be able to sue him or her or leave the job in search of another one. A breach of contract may occur, for example, in the lesser payments of the employees’ salaries. Another law that would be beneficial to the employees would be their right to privacy. In this case, their employers would be prevented from taking their passports to stop them from leaving. This should be implemented since most employers take the passports and poorly pay their employees since they know they cannot leave the country without the passport. Finally, in the case of a court case between the employer and employee, the government should provide legal counsel to the employee. This is because most of the employees cannot afford to get a lawyer for themselves. For this reason, they go to court unrepresented and almost 97% of the employees who go to court are convicted (Walt and Bower, 3). By the provision of the lawyers, the employees will be able to defend themselves against their employers.

The native Saudi employees should treat the migrant workers humanely. This is because the treatment that they receive from a few individuals is not so good. The cost of treatment is also very high and the employees themselves cannot afford it. This is in complete breach of the contract since most of them state that the employer should cater for the employee’s healthcare. For this reason, they let the wounds heal by themselves and most of the injuries are prone to re-infection. Their immunity is compromised. Poor health will reduce their efficiency, which will lead to lesser pay. This vicious cycle continues all through the employment period. In addition to this, a small portion of female migrant workers has claimed to be subjected to sexual abuse in the hands of their employers. After the instances of abuse, some employees try to escape to their countries’ embassies; however, the greater majority cannot escape this and have to live through it. If the employees try to report the perpetrators of these actions, the employers lie and blame the employers of fornication or adultery. Since it is a Muslim country, such offences carry very serious ramifications like death penalties or life imprisonment.

Knowledge of these few instances of mistreatment is known by several countries whose citizens work in Saudi Arabia. These countries should team up and defend their citizens from this. The countries that are affected the most are Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia (Sherry, 55). If these countries and the other minority countries were to forge an alliance to defend their citizens, they will undoubtedly be successful. They may also get the help of prominent organizations like the United Nations to help and support them. By so doing, they will be able to change the working conditions in Saudi Arabia. The joint action of these countries against Saudi Arabia will result in an improvement in the way the migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are treated by their employers.

There is a lot that can be done to improve the lives of the migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. By improving the working conditions, their productivity is expected to increase. Subsequently, the economy of the country will also develop. However, for those few who are mistreated, the employees work since they are forced to and are scared of the outcomes if they do not. If nothing is done about this, the number of migrant workers who are abused in Saudi can increase over the coming years. Therefore, the Saudi government and the other countries should consider the plight of the migrant workers in Saudi Arabia as well.

Works Cited

Sherry, VirginiaN.Saudi Arabia: Bad Dreams, Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia.New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004. Print.

Standing, Edmund. “The Plight of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia.” Butterflies & Wheels. Mar 4, 2009: 1-3. Web. Nov 2 2012.

Walt, Vivienne and Bower, Amanda. “Follow the Money” Working Lives. N.d. 1-5. Print.