When Shahadat set out for Saudi Arabia from his village in Bangladesh, he was pushed by a single function: to earn cash for his impoverished household. “If he despatched cash dwelling, his household would eat. If he didn’t, they wouldn’t,” says a relative.
For years he nearly scraped by, sending a little bit cash dwelling every month and making an attempt to pay down the massive debt he took on to afford the unlawful charges a recruitment agent had charged him to get to Saudi Arabia.
Then all of it started to unravel. An employer didn’t renew his residence allow, turning him into an undocumented employee. His well being started to endure, however his irregular standing meant it could have been tough to entry medical care.
He struggled to search out work. As an alternative of sending cash dwelling, he needed to borrow extra to outlive. He was so determined he took on jobs on development websites in change for less than meals and board.
After which his journey got here to a sudden finish. “I phoned him at some point and his roommate informed me he was sleeping,” says Shahadat’s spouse, Rojina. “After they tried to wake him up, they discovered he was useless.”
Shahadat’s dying was considered one of various tales shared with the Guardian this 12 months as we investigated the excessive variety of unexplained deaths of Bangladeshi migrant staff in Saudi Arabia.
On common, 4 Bangladeshis died within the nation every single day in 2022. It’s unclear whether or not that dying charge is throughout the anticipated vary given the variety of Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia – about 2 million – however its audacious plans for the World Cup in 2034 are prone to see a surge in demand for staff like Shahadat.
Over the previous months, a number of human rights teams have raised issues in regards to the alleged abuse of migrant staff and the dangers of awarding the World Cup to Saudi Arabia, with Amnesty Worldwide saying, “migrant staff will face exploitation, and lots of will die”.
The prevailing dying toll was laid naked at Dhaka’s worldwide airport late final 12 months, the place distraught and confused households got here to gather the coffins carrying the our bodies of their family members as they have been trundled out on trolleys from the cargo depot.
Shahadat’s coffin was transported from the airport by ambulance to his village, a few three-hour drive from Dhaka. It was late at night time when it arrived, however a crowd of greater than 100 had stayed as much as obtain him. Each family in his village had despatched somebody overseas for work, and so the dying of 1 weighed heavy on all of them.
It’s a scene repeated with gut-wrenching frequency in villages and cities throughout Bangladesh. No less than 13,685 Bangladeshis died in Saudi Arabia between 2008 and 2022, in accordance with Bangladeshi authorities data. Nearly all of deaths look like unexplained and unexamined, making it tough to ascertain the underlying causes.
Consultants have pointed to the tough residing and dealing situations confronted by many staff as doubtless contributory components. “I believe the psychological stress of not having the appropriate paperwork, not having a job and coping with his money owed all performed an element in his dying,” says Rojina.
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Saudi Arabia is a nation powered not simply by oil, however by low cost labour. They arrive of their hundreds of thousands, from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and past. They’ll construct the promised 11 new stadiums, transport networks and 185,000 resort rooms. With out them there can be no World Cup.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights technique, submitted as a part of its bid for the World Cup, features a lengthy record of steps it says it’ll take to strengthen protections, together with, “obligatory welfare requirements”.
However testimonies from Bangladeshi staff who’ve returned dwelling counsel abuse is deeply entrenched within the Gulf kingdom. On the arrivals gate at Dhaka’s airport late final 12 months, males resembling Abu Raihan emerged wanting shell-shocked. He was considered one of virtually 70,000 Bangladeshis deported from Saudi Arabia in 2022, largely for not having a legitimate residence allow.
They’re rounded up on the streets and brought to detention centres, the place they’re sometimes held for one to 2 weeks earlier than being despatched dwelling. They convey again tales of surprising therapy and abuse; false contracts, unpaid wages and big recruitment money owed.
Raihan says he needed to promote his land to pay the 430,000 taka (£2,800) recruitment payment to safe his work visa in Saudi Arabia. He says he was promised a two-year contract, however after 90 days his firm didn’t lengthen his visa.
With no work and no meals, Raihan went to the police to complain, however as an alternative of serving to him, they took him to a detention centre, he alleges. “I grew to become unlawful due to my employer, however the police didn’t take any motion in opposition to him.”
Saudi Arabia’s ministry of human sources and social improvement has mentioned that, “sturdy laws and requirements to safeguard staff’ rights” are in place and that it “solely repatriates these confirmed to have violated the work and residency laws within the kingdom after taking all authorized measures to confirm their violations and coordinating with the embassies of their international locations”.
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