Migrant workers’ Covid detention hell in Saudi Arabia

Thousands of African migrant workers in Saudi Arabia have been locked up in horrific conditions in an apparent attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus, according to an explosive investigation by the Sunday Telegraph. The British newspaper was sent graphic photographs from inside the detention centres, showing dozens of half-naked emaciated men crammed together in small rooms with barred windows. Those detained told the journalists that they are provided barely enough food and water to survive. Migrant workers are the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s low-paid workforce – with some 6.6 million working in the country, making up 20 per cent of the total population. Neom, the Saudi megacity project, which is predicted to cost $500 billion to build, will doubtless heavily reply on such migrant labour for construction and service sector. The photographs obtained by the Telegraph show mainly Ethiopian men living in hellish conditions. One image appears to show a dead body left on the floor – a young man who had died of heatstroke. The report says another photo shows a young man hanging himself, taking his own life after losing hope, according to his friends. Images also show men displaying scars they received following beatings. One of the men, who said he had been held for four months, told the Telegraph: “It’s hell in here. We are treated like animals and beaten every day.” He added: “My only crime is leaving my country in search of a better life. But they beat us with whips and electric cords as if we were murderers.” Another of the Ethiopian men told the Telegraph: “A young boy, about 16, managed to hang himself last month. The guards just throw the bodies out back as if it was trash.” Detainees said disease was rife in the camp, food scarce and toilets were “overflowing”. Many had been due to be deported months ago, but were instead held captive. Many of the detainees are thought to be migrant workers rounded up from cities, while others are refugees from war-torn Yemen. The situation was strongly condemned by human rights groups. Human Rights Watch deputy director in the Middle East, Adam Coogle, told the Telegraph: “The squalid detention centres in southern Saudi Arabia fall well short of international standards. For a wealthy country like Saudi Arabia, there’s no excuse for holding migrants in such deplorable conditions.” Human rights groups are not allowed to operate in Saudi Arabia, and this is one of the reasons why. While the Saudi regime is set to spend $500bn on the Neom project, it is being built by a workforce entirely dehumanised by inherently racist and totalitarian regime. This is another reason why human rights defenders should keep up the pressure on Saudi Arabia – and aim to ensure the regime is unable to build vanity projects like Neom for the global elite using the blood of the most vulnerable.