Forestall, Examine Deaths; Compensate Households; Mandate Life Insurance coverage
Scores of migrant staff in Saudi Arabia have died in grotesque but avoidable workplace-related accidents, together with falling from buildings, electrocution, and even decapitation. Many migrant deaths in Saudi Arabia are erroneously labeled as “pure” and are neither investigated nor compensated. The method for compensation for work-related accidents is lengthy and burdensome. Saudi authorities, FIFA, and different employers ought to be certain that all migrant employee deaths, no matter perceived trigger, time, and place are correctly investigated and households of deceased staff are handled with dignity, and obtain honest and well timed compensation.
Scores of migrant staff in Saudi Arabia die in grotesque but avoidable workplace-related accidents, together with falling from buildings, electrocution, and even decapitation, Human Rights Watch mentioned immediately. Saudi authorities have did not adequately defend staff from preventable deaths, examine office security incidents, and guarantee well timed and sufficient compensation for households, together with by obligatory life insurance coverage insurance policies and survivors’ advantages. A separate, unbiased investigation by Fairsquare, additionally launched immediately, highlights a severe lack of efficient Saudi authorities insurance policies and processes to find out the reason for migrant employee deaths.
The dangers of occupational deaths and accidents are additional growing because the Saudi authorities ramps up development work for the 2034 World Cup in addition to different “giga-projects.” Households mentioned that Saudi-based employers and authorities have given their households little or no data on the circumstances of their family’ deaths, some employers refused to cowl repatriation prices, and a few even pressed households to bury their family in Saudi Arabia, providing monetary incentives to take action. Firms additionally typically sought to withhold returning deceased migrant staff’ belongings and the excellent pay owed to them.
“The grotesque office accidents killing migrant staff in Saudi Arabia needs to be an enormous purple flag for companies, soccer followers, and sports activities associations looking for to accomplice with FIFA on the 2034 Males’s World Cup and different Saudi ‘giga-projects’,” mentioned Michael Web page, deputy Center East director at Human Rights Watch. “Provided that Saudi authorities are failing to adequately guarantee fundamental security protections and social safety for migrant staff, native and worldwide corporations face a bigger duty to make sure that severe rights violations should not occurring all through their enterprise operations in Saudi Arabia.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed households of 31 deceased migrant staff from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal who died between the ages of 23 and 52 in Saudi Arabia, 2 social staff based mostly in origin international locations who offered repatriation help to the households, and three present migrant staff who have been witnesses to their colleagues’ deaths. Researchers additionally reviewed, the place obtainable, deceased staff’ “No Objection Certificates,” a compulsory doc issued by origin nation embassies earlier than permitting repatriation of a migrant employee’s physique, dying certificates, and different related official paperwork.
In step with a physique of analysis on what number of migrant employee deaths in Saudi Arabia are erroneously labeled as “pure” and neither investigated nor compensated, Human Rights Watch discovered that even work-related dying circumstances categorized as such in a migrant employee’s dying certificates are generally not compensated as they need to be based on Saudi legislation and worldwide labor requirements. In migrant dying circumstances which might be compensated, the method is lengthy and burdensome.
The development sector is most susceptible to work-related accidents, based on official data of Saudi Arabia’s Basic Group for Social Insurance coverage (GOSI). The figures present that the highest three office accidents are from “inanimate mechanical forces,” falls, and visitors accidents, with migrant staff disproportionately affected.
Saudi legal guidelines require employers with 50 or extra staff to implement a well being and security coverage, conduct coaching, assess office dangers, and supply needed protecting gear and first help. The Nationwide Council of Occupational Security and Well being has mentioned that the Human Sources and Social Growth Ministry conducts common inspections, compliance checks, and investigations of office incidents in coordination with stakeholders, and that violations are to be addressed by authorized motion or penalties as specified by labor rules.
However Human Rights Watch discovered that staff throughout employment sectors and geographic areas in Saudi Arabia proceed to face widespread labor abuses and occupational risks at their work websites. Whereas “illnesses brought on by publicity to excessive temperatures” are included in its authorised checklist of occupational illnesses, heat-related protections and associated investigations, together with of maximum heat-related deaths, stay grossly insufficient.
FIFA, the worldwide soccer group, has awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia with out correct human rights due diligence, ensures of efficient employee safety necessities, together with from excessive warmth, or guaranteeing social safety to staff, together with survivor’s advantages and different compensation, corresponding to obligatory life insurance coverage. FIFA is knowingly risking one more event that may unnecessarily come at a grave human value, Human Rights Watch mentioned.
Saudi authorities, FIFA, and different employers ought to be certain that all migrant employee deaths, no matter perceived trigger, time, and place are correctly investigated and that households of deceased staff are handled with dignity and obtain honest and well timed compensation, Human Rights Watch mentioned.
FIFA wrote in its response to Human Rights Watch that it plans to ascertain a staff’ welfare system devoted to obligatory requirements and enforcement mechanisms for World Cup-related development and repair supply in Saudi Arabia, with out offering particulars on concrete measures to stop, examine, and compensate migrant employee deaths corresponding to risk-based warmth safety measures or life insurance coverage. Saudi authorities didn’t reply to a March 25 Human Rights Watch letter on questions concerning migrant employee protections. Human Rights Watch has beforehand documented that Qatar, which hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, had inspired its contractors to buy non-public life insurance coverage for his or her staff since 2019. However in 2022, Human Rights Watch discovered that solely 23 contractors had bought life insurance coverage insurance policies for his or her staff. One contractor mentioned that it value them lower than US$14 per employee per yr for a good thing about $20,599 for members of the family when deaths weren’t labeled as work-related and thus didn’t qualify for compensation.
“FIFA, which claims to be an impetus for constructive labor reforms in World Cup host international locations, ought to be taught from the human rights disasters of previous tournaments and urgently demand efficient prevention, investigation, and compensation mechanisms for migrant employee deaths and accidents,” Web page mentioned.
For detailed findings, please see beneath.
Researchers collected details about migrant staff’ deaths from Indian, Bangladeshi, and Nepali authorities sources. Throughout nationalities the massive majority of deaths of staff have been attributed to “pure causes,” which accounted for 74 p.c of 1,420 Indian migrant employee deaths recorded simply on the Indian embassy in Riyadh in 2023; 80 p.c of 887 Bangladeshi deaths through the first 6 months of 2024, and 68 p.c of 870 Nepali migrant employee deaths from 2019 to 2022.
5 of the 9 circumstances Human Rights Watch documented of deaths that official paperwork classify as nonwork associated, together with by “pure causes,” concerned staff who collapsed at their office and later died, their households mentioned. Witnesses to 2 employee deaths informed households that their coworkers died from office accidents; one was an electrocution and the second was an elevator accident. Witnesses additionally shared with two households of deceased staff that two migrant staff died of their sleep. These findings increase issues that office accidents in Saudi Arabia are under-recorded, misclassified, and/or inadequately investigated.
Furthermore, the “No Objection Certificates” for the dying of a Bangladeshi employee on account of “electrocution” marked the opportunity of compensation as “no,” with the explanation as “not obtainable,” whereas for 2 different circumstances of formally licensed work accidents, the opportunity of receiving compensation was marked as “depends upon police report.”
Employers additionally violated or sought to evade their obligation underneath Saudi legislation that requires employers to bear the prices of repatriation of the stays except lined by GOSI. The members of the family of 9 deceased Bangladeshi staff mentioned employers had proposed to bury them in Saudi Arabia, providing lump sum funds or protection of month-to-month bills like youngsters’s schooling. Regardless of their dire financial situations, eight households mentioned they’d refused these affords whereas six paid the repatriation prices themselves. In a single case, the spouse of a Nepali employee mentioned that her husband was buried in Saudi Arabia with out the household’s consent. None of them have but obtained compensation.
The son of a Bangladeshi man who died of electrical shock mentioned that his father’s employer conditioned compensation on native burial. The household rejected this and needed to pay greater than 500,000 Bangladeshi Taka (roughly US$4,134) to repatriate the physique, which they financed by loans. The household obtained TK335,000 (US$2,770) in compensation from the Bangladeshi authorities. “We had extra debt than compensation,” the son mentioned.
Eligible migrant employee households wrestle to navigate accessing their Saudi authorities social safety advantages, even with the assistance of their embassy or consulate. Origin nation embassy web sites say that getting compensation is extraordinarily prolonged, cumbersome, and may take years. The widow of a deceased employee mentioned it took 10 years to get what was owed to her: “My sons are 11 and 13 years outdated. When my husband died, they have been 11 months and a couple of years outdated. If we had obtained compensation proper after his dying, it could have offered a lot reduction.”
In one other case, it took nearly 15 years for the household of a deceased migrant to entry their GOSI advantages. His brother informed Human Rights Watch: “The compensation ought to have come sooner. It could have supplied some comfort to my grieving mother and father and eased the strain of loans. They handed away six years after my brother’s dying.”
The failure to acknowledge office deaths and guarantee well timed social safety for surviving members of the family can additional entrench or result in poverty and multi-generational hurt, together with strain to take youngsters out of faculty and ship them to work. A widow of a Bangladeshi migrant employee mentioned, “To make ends meet, I’ve put my 14-year-old son to work, and the little cash he earns is used for our each day bills.”
Some witnesses mentioned that employers required them to renew work after witnessing coworkers’ deaths in work-related accidents. A employee described the dizziness he felt when he eliminated his good friend’s corpse after being killed in a equipment accident. He resumed work the subsequent day with no entry to bereavement time without work or social and psychological well being help.
One other mentioned that supervisors questioned why he and his colleagues had paused their work after witnessing their good friend’s dying. They have been pressured to renew working the identical day. “It’s troublesome in a international land,” he mentioned. “We didn’t dare to talk up about this subject and stayed silent in concern.”
Office Deaths and Egregious Office Security Failures
Deaths from Falls, Falling Building Supplies
A widow of a 48-year-old Bangladeshi man who labored in development in Saudi Arabia for over twenty years mentioned:
He died after falling from the fifth flooring of a constructing that was underneath development. His colleagues current on the web site knowledgeable me that the place the place he fell was the elevator touchdown space, the place rubbish and iron items had been dumped. At the moment, he was doing shuttering work when his security belt got here off, inflicting him to fall…. As there have been many heavy and laborious objects there, he acquired injured in varied elements of his head and physique. He misplaced consciousness however was alive. The Saudi police arrived in a short time and rescued him from the accident web site and took him to a close-by hospital. After first help, he was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and died two hours later. I used to speak to him a number of instances a day. Like daily, on the day he died, he known as me after lunch, and that was our final dialog.
The widow of a 36-year-old Bangladeshi migrant employee who labored in development in Saudi Arabia for over eight years mentioned:
A relative additionally labored and lived with him on the similar firm. On the day of the accident, he was current on the worksite and knowledgeable us about my husband’s passing. He informed me, “We supply heavy blocks at work, and a big amount of blocks have been amassed within the development web site. When brother (my husband) was passing by that place, a bulk of blocks out of the blue fell on him. As there have been fairly just a few blocks, we couldn’t rescue him with our naked palms. A crane was dropped at take away these blocks from the physique, nevertheless it was too late. Brother (my husband) had already stopped respiratory. His physique was smashed by the load of the heavy blocks.”
The widow of a 33-year-old Bangladeshi migrant employee who had been in Saudi Arabia for simply seven months mentioned:
A number of of my family stay in Saudi Arabia for work. They heard that my husband fell from the third flooring of a development constructing’s window which was about to be demolished for reconstruction…. My husband was on the third flooring hammering the wall to interrupt it when he fell. He didn’t die on the spot. However nobody stepped ahead to assist him as they feared entering into authorized bother as this was an accident case.
Electrocution Deaths
The widow of a 25-year-old Nepali man who labored in Saudi Arabia for 2 years mentioned:
After my husband acquired electrocuted at work, he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. A number of months later, we have been relieved to listen to that he had regained consciousness, however then we have been once more out of the blue knowledgeable about his dying. Regardless of the dying on account of work-related causes, the dying is formally labeled as pure dying. Moreover, we didn’t obtain the useless physique of my husband, however have been as a substitute knowledgeable that his final rites have been already performed in Saudi Arabia itself with out our permission. This has put us in additional ache. We consider all this was an elaborate plan to deprive us of compensation. There are such a lot of questions unanswered…. Who gave them permission to bury (my husband) as a substitute of repatriating (his) physique? Witnesses say that the dying was brought on by electrocution….
The widow of a 27-year-old Bangladeshi who labored in Saudi Arabia for 4 and a half years mentioned:
A number of colleagues have been current when he (my husband) was electrocuted. They described how he was working close to electrical wiring when a sudden electrical shock prompted him to break down. Regardless of makes an attempt to revive him, he was declared useless on the scene.
Decapitation
The widow of a 46-year-old Bangladeshi man who labored in development in Saudi Arabia for 2 years mentioned:
In response to his colleagues and the foreman, he seen a mechanical subject with the machine he was working. He turned off the machine to repair it and was attempting to take away a stone that was caught inside when somebody unintentionally turned the machine again on. His head acquired caught inside, and he died on the spot. When his physique arrived in Bangladesh, we noticed that his head was separated from his physique. The outline offered by his colleagues matched the situation of his physique, so I had no alternative however to consider the incident. Nonetheless, I can’t say whether or not the investigation into the accident was thorough or not. After we obtained his physique, I needed to carry him one final time, nevertheless it wasn’t potential. Seeing him in that state, I misplaced consciousness.
The widow of a 43-year-old Bangladeshi man who lower concrete blocks in Saudi Arabia for 2 years mentioned:
He had no prior expertise working one of these large machine. Perhaps the blade acquired jammed however he didn’t discover that the blade was operating within the higher aspect. He put his head contained in the machine when the blade out of the blue began operating. At that time his head acquired lower by that blade and have become indifferent from the physique. He died on the spot. The Police got here and took the physique. I solely know what occurred by phrases. It was not potential for me to reality test the reason for dying from Bangladesh.
Employer Stress to Bury Our bodies of Deceased Migrant Staff in Saudi Arabia
A number of households of migrant staff informed Human Rights Watch that they confronted lively hurdles from their deceased member of the family’s employer to repatriate their our bodies.
The widow of a 48-year-old Bangladeshi man who labored in development in Saudi Arabia for over twenty years mentioned:
Initially, the individuals from the corporate proposed to bury my husband’s physique in Saudi Arabia and warranted us of assorted firm services in return. However after we needed to convey my husband’s physique to Bangladesh and bury him right here, the corporate mentioned that we must bear all of the bills of bringing the physique…. All these bills have been borne by our household.
The widow of a 46-year-old Bangladeshi man who labored in development in Saudi Arabia for 2 years mentioned:
The Saudi Kafil (sponsor) needed to bury my husband in Saudi Arabia, however I didn’t give consent. I needed to convey him again to see him one final time. The Kafil didn’t present any monetary help. It helped that my family have been in Saudi Arabia as they put their coronary heart and soul to make sure my husband’s useless physique was repatriated. To take action, my family contributed 1,000 Saudi rials (US$265) and in addition a further SAR4,000 ($1065) from my husband’s colleagues…. The Kafil (sponsor) didn’t present any compensation or insurance coverage.
The widow of a 44-year-old Bangladeshi who labored in Saudi Arabia as a plumber for over twenty years mentioned:
Through the time of dying, the corporate stored calling me and supplied varied monetary help in trade of burying my husband in Saudi Arabia itself. They insisted that I not take the physique again. They promised to ship me 800,000 Bangladeshi Taka (US$6584), my husbands’ excellent wage, and a month-to-month allowance for my youngsters’s schooling, however I insisted on bringing his physique to Bangladesh.
The widow of a 32-year-old Bangladeshi laborer who died on account of electrical shocks mentioned:
My husband’s physique arrived in Bangladesh about three months after his dying. The corporate’s foreman stored attempting to persuade me in varied ways in which if I didn’t get the physique repatriated, I’d get many advantages from the corporate. He mentioned the corporate would even assist us with our month-to-month bills, youngsters’s schooling charges and so on. After we didn’t comply with bury the physique in Saudi Arabia, the foreman himself contacted the corporate and introduced the physique to Bangladesh.
Refusal to Compensate Migrant Employee Deaths, Together with Work-Associated Accidents
Saudi Arabia’s GOSI covers accidents or deaths which might be attributed to work-related accidents. This obligatory insurance coverage is predicated on a 2 p.c wage contribution, and surviving members of the family of deceased get 84 months of wage with a most of 330,000 Saudi rials (US$88,000).
Most deaths in Saudi Arabia are attributed to non-work-related causes together with “pure causes” with out correct investigation, which deprives surviving members of compensation. Nonetheless, Human Rights Watch analysis exhibits that even when migrant staff die in work-related accidents which might be licensed as such within the dying certificates, households typically face vital challenges and delays in accessing compensation.
The final resort for a lot of returning migrant staff and their households are welfare packages arrange by their very own governments particularly for abuses leading to dying and harm. Contributory Migrant Welfare Funds, that are largely funded by contributions from migrants, are generally utilized in many international locations of origin to fund such welfare packages. Nonetheless, such help is usually conditioned on legitimate labor permits, which not all migrant staff possess. Furthermore, origin international locations’ degree and comprehensiveness of help to migrant staff varies considerably.
Compensation from Each Saudi Arabia and Origin Nations
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The widow of a 28-year-old Nepali street development employee who died after being hit by a heavy car mentioned:
I obtained 700,000 Indian rupees (US$8,065) from the Nepal Authorities as compensation and 1,400,000 Indian rupees ($16,130) from the (Nepali) insurance coverage firm. I confronted many hurdles to obtain the compensation from Saudi Arabia. My brother-in-law took the lead. It took two years to course of, and I needed to go to a number of places of work. The paperwork was burdensome…. It was clear that I couldn’t handle the compensation course of by myself. My brother-in-law then appealed to social staff who put strain on the Nepali embassy in Saudi Arabia. It is just after their frequent follow-up that we lastly obtained compensation in my son’s and my financial institution accounts individually…. With out (compensation), we might not have been in a position to handle our bills….
The brother of a deceased Nepali employee who fought for compensation on behalf of his sister-in-law mentioned:
We obtained compensation from GOSI for my brother’s dying after 15 years. I used to be decided to get compensation so stored following up persistently. Another person wouldn’t have been in a position to do the identical. My members of the family informed me to surrender, however I used to be decided to get the compensation at any value. If required, I used to be able to go to Saudi Arabia to combat my case. However at the very least we obtained the cash: it’s higher than not receiving something…. It has offered some reduction.
The spouse of a 34-year-old deceased Nepali employee who died in a street accident mentioned:
I’ve saved the compensation quantity in my checking account, and I’m attempting to not use it. I want to reserve it for my youngsters’s future. I’m attempting to handle my family bills by subsistence agriculture, money switch for widows from the Nepali authorities, and scholarships for youngsters of deceased migrants by the Overseas Employment Board (scholarship scheme funded by the contributory migrant welfare fund).
Compensation from Both Saudi Arabia or Origin Nations
The widow of 44-year-old Bangladeshi who labored in Saudi Arabia as a plumber for over twenty years mentioned:
I did not obtain a lot monetary assist when the physique arrived, however three months later, the Bangladesh authorities offered me with 350,000 Bangladeshi taka (US$2879). Neither the Saudi authorities nor the corporate offered any monetary help. The corporate had beforehand promised to assist me, however I by no means obtained any help.
The widow of 26-year-old Bangladeshi who labored in Saudi Arabia as a development employee for over 5 years earlier than being crushed to dying by a loader mentioned:
It took over three months to convey his physique again to Bangladesh on account of bureaucratic delays and the employer’s refusal to take duty…. The corporate didn’t pay any overdue wages, end-of-service advantages or further compensation regardless of repeated requests. We obtained 300,000 Bangladeshi taka (US$2,466) from the federal government underneath the Expatriates’ Welfare Fund….
The widow of a 32-year-old Bangladeshi laborer who died on account of electrical shock mentioned:
On the time of his dying, there was one month’s unpaid wage left which the corporate later despatched to us. However we didn’t get again any of the cash that he had within the financial institution nor his different belongings…. We acquired 35,000 Bangladeshi taka (US$287) from the Bangladeshi authorities after we obtained the physique and once more BDT300,000 ($2,466), and his associates from work additionally despatched us BDT150,000 ($1,233) as help. Aside from the wage dues, the corporate didn’t present any remaining advantages or insurance coverage cash….
The widow of a 44-year-old Indian plumber who died on account of “pure trigger,” which the household doesn’t consider, mentioned:
The corporate paid 300,000 Indian rupees (US$3,511). We aren’t positive whether or not the cash is pending wage or finish of service advantages or compensation….We had talked to Rajeev (one other migrant employee within the firm) who’s the one communicator to the household from the corporate. He mentioned the corporate shouldn’t be keen to present any further cash. The corporate owes us more cash as dying compensation since it’s a work web site dying.
No Compensation Acquired
The widow of a 45-year-old Nepali man who labored in Saudi Arabia as laborer in out of doors street development for over 11 years mentioned:
I begged the corporate a number of instances for insurance coverage cash. However they are saying it isn’t of their guidelines as they don’t have life insurance coverage coverage, simply unintentional insurance coverage. Our case shouldn’t be thought-about work-related accident. Do you need to fall or be hit by a stone or be lower by a machine throughout work? He fainted due to excessive work strain. I feel the investigation into this case was incomplete. We’re compelled to take their phrase at face worth. We do not have the flexibility to go there (Saudi Arabia) to higher perceive the scenario. The compensation cash would have labored like oxygen for us. We additionally didn’t obtain compensation from Nepal’s authorities. His labor approval had expired so he was not eligible for compensation from the welfare fund or insurance coverage.
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