Treatment of Foreign Workers in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example

 Foreign Workers: Saudi Arabia From a historical perspective, Saudi Arabia has always strongly relied on foreign workers for its economic growth and development. After the oil book of the 1970’s, a great deal of construction and economic activities started to take place in the country. There was a tremendous need to bring in millions of foreign workers to fill positions in a number of economic sectors. Saudi culture and society has always been very open and welcoming of foreign workers from all parts of the world. Today, more than six million foreign workers are present in the country representing 50% of the total workforce. According to Eleanor (37-34) there have been some issues of mistreatment of such workers. Examples include not being paid on time or receiving poor treatment by their employers. Foreign workers are employed under the sponsorship system in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Most workers are invited to Saudi Arabia by their employers under the terms of a working contract. The employer can be an enterprise, an individual company or even state-run organization. In the latter situation, this could include a post in the public sector such as bringing in a doctor or an engineer. This system is highly criticized by international human rights NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as it opens the field for a series of grave human rights violations. One such NGO is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). Employers in Saudi Arabia confiscate migrant workers’ passports, and therefore the workers are totally at their mercy as the employers control the workers’ movement. They are barred from changing jobs and cannot leave their place of work. They are mistreated and denied their salary. Generally speaking, Saudi culture and its people have treated workers well. Workers can take part in all types of social communication, except discussing political issues because this is taboo. Asian countries such as Pakistan and India have the largest number of foreign workers in the area, which perhaps accounts for this social acceptance. There is a sense of unity among all these workers as well. Workers try to stay within their own communities. For example, Pakistanis stay among their unified community and Filipinos tend to stay in their own community as well (Codesman 413). Many other Arab countries like Yemen, Sudan and Jordan also have migrant workers in the country. Many of these countries including Pakistan and Yemen share very similar cultures and traditions with Saudi Arabia, making it easier for the workers to become part of the Saudi society. Saudi cultural attitudes suggest everyone is equal, therefore the culture insists foreign workers must be treated as an extension of the Saudi family, enabling them to work in all parts of the country. Saudi Arabia also has strong political and social relations with the West, the United States in particular. Many Americans actively work in the country as well. Saudi citizens want to be united with these workers and treat them with dignity. Yet the organizations that hire these workers do not stay in line with these ideals. Human rights organizations have recognized how foreigners detained in Saudi Arabia have been denied their basic rights (Daryl, 2003). The Human Rights Watch recognized how foreigners detained in Saudi Arabia have been denied consular visits and forced to sign confessions that they were not able to read. This report included cases in which the embassies and families of the condemned workers were not well-versed regarding their executions until after they were carried out. According to Whitson (135), “an executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, Saudi Arabia’s dilemma runs much deeper than the terror attacks that are claiming the lives of innocent civilians. Saudi government invited a Human Rights Watch delegation to visit the kingdom for talks with officials last year. They have not yet responded to numerous requests for authorization to conduct a field research, which includes meeting with victims of abuse. Mostly Indian, Bangladeshi and Philippino workers who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia conducted these interviews (Madden 240). The Madden report illustrates the failure of the Saudi government to implement its own labor laws in the face of considerable abuses of foreign workers by their employers. Whitson also found men and women in conditions resembling slavery, this case demonstrates that the Saudis are turning a blind eye to systematic abuses against foreign workers. Human Rights Watch examined gender discrimination through evidence from Asian women who had recently worked in Saudi Arabia, the report highlights the widespread practice of forced, around-the-clock confinement of women in unsafe conditions. In other cases reported, some 300 women from India, Sri Lanka and the Phillipines reported working 12-hour shifts, six days a week, cleaning hospitals in Jeddah. At the end of the long working day, they would return to crowded houses which were in the style of a dormitory in which 14 women would share one small room lined with cot-like beds. The women would be locked in from the outside, thus denied freedom of movement for the two or three years of their contract. This should be a criminal offense under Saudi law. As the Human Rights Watch says, this is enforced imprisonment of workers and they have noted this occurs more often with women. The Madden report also included four cases of women who were sufferers of forced confinement and sexual abuse including rape cases. In all of this, the perpetrators, three of whom were already alleged rapists, did not face criminal investigation or prosecution. The Human Rights Watch found some women who were serving sentences on illegal pregnancies in a prison in Riyadh. The Saudi Arabia’s legal system is faced with persistent gender discrimination coupled with law enforcement officials’ indifference to women’s complaints. This places them at great risk as noted by Whitson. It was disclosed in May that there are 8.8 million foreigners in Saudi Arabia, a figure significantly higher than any that the government has previously reported. This means that there is almost one foreign resident for every two Saudi citizens with a local population of about 17 million. There are also 500,000 workers from Indonesia, and another 350,000 from Sri Lanka, the majority of who are women. This report included 25 specific recommendations to various Saudi government officials, such as Crown prince Abdullah, and the ministers of interior, labor, and justice. These include one that they should take immediate action to inform all foreign workers in the kingdom of their rights under Saudi and international law. Secondly Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances. Therefore, they should suspend implementation of death sentences for Saudi citizens and foreigners, until it can be determined independently that torture was not used and confessions were not coerced. They should also halt the arrest and imprisonment of women who become pregnant voluntarily or because they were victims of rape. Forced confinement of workers should be abolished as they impose substantial penalties on employers who carry on the practice, and provide fair and equal compensation to the victims. Bring interior ministry practices into compliance with the Vienna convention on consular relations, which is the international treaty that establishes the right of consular officials to prompt notification about the arrest of their nationals. In general the principle of non- discrimination should be applied in observing rights and freedom, and that many rights and freedoms should be enjoyed by all persons living in a given state. All citizens must be Muslims; freedom of religion does not exist. Islam is the official religion, and the government prohibits the public practice of other religions. The government declared the Holy Quran and the Sunni (tradition) of the Prophet Muhammad to be the country’s constitution. It bases its legitimacy on governance according to the precepts of the thorough conservative and strict interpretation of the Sunni branch of Islam and discriminates against other branches of Islam argues Jerichow (340). Though Saudi Arabia’s culture is based on Islamic laws, it treats all equally. Non-Muslims in the country are allowed to practice their beliefs and ways of doing things in private but not in public environment. In all more than one quarter of Saudi Arabia's foreign work force is non-Muslim. These are Indian Hindus, Buddhists from Thailand and Nepal, and Christians from countries such as India, the Philippines and Eritrea. Once dead, the steep cost of shipping a body is about $3,000, equivalent to many workers' annual wage and must be paid by Saudi employers, some of whom try to shirk the responsibility. Immigrants remain to be held in Saudi Arabia for as long as six months while the government processes their visa on the dead worker's passport, as the employers raise money. Their bodies are immediately taken to a designated hospital morgue. In cases of abnormal death, the bodies are often not released until local police complete an investigation. As the diplomats say among the 1.4 million strong communities of Indian workers here, some 70% of the deaths result from causes such as traffic and industrial accidents. In political freedom, freedom of speech and the press are restricted as well as criticism of the government. They banned trade unions , political organizations and public demonstrations. The Saudi government is an active censor of internet function within its borders. Recently, the internet has become a tool for dissent; since the arrest of prominent Saudi blogger and reformist Fouad al-Farhan, there has been somewhat of a crackdown on online dissent. Consequently, he landed in jail; a case that was without charges after the criticisms targeting prominent Saudi personalities. Though political parties are banned, some political dissidents were freed in the 1990s on the condition that they disband their political organizations. In 1990s the government created a written constitution due to the slow period of political liberalization in the kingdom, the advisory consultative council, the latter being an appointed delegation of Saudi scholars and professionals that are allowed to advise the king. Rashid (2005), states that western businesses are flourishing in the country and business ethics is a key foundation of any successful business that takes place in the country. A person often greets Saudis with the word “Asamalaikum”, meaning welcome in the local Arabic language. In all, foreign workers are happy working in the country and more are coming with each passing day. Conclusion In recent years, the goal of replacing foreign workers with Saudi nationals has been on the rise. More than half of the population in Saudi Arabia is under the age of 17 as it maintains a population growth rate of over 3.6%. So far, they have concentrated mainly on expulsing several hundred thousands illegal foreign workers. Yet, replacing these workers with Saudi nationals has proven difficult because employers are unwilling to pay higher wages and the Saudis are not willing to take lower paying jobs in domestic services or construction. As long as foreign workers are cheap and not capable or reluctant to complain, there will be a demand for them. Their deliberate marginalization remains to be tackled. The FIDH and the EOHR recommend the Committee on the Abolition of Racial Discrimination to urge the Saudi authorities to condemn the sponsorship practices and develop programmes that prevent physical abuses, restrictions to the freedom of movement and unfair conditions of work. They should also reinforce the information and statistics on foreign workers by provision of legal assistance to them, prosecute and condemn all acts of negligence in respect to international standards governing the right to a fair trial, recognition of the right to proper representation to foreign workers and the right to equal treatment at work was another subject to be observed and reinforce measures that fight illegal recruitment, without having the option to deportation. They should also provide regular inspections of agencies of foreign recruitment and of workplaces. Finally, they should promote the integration of the migrant populations into the Saudi society. Works cited Codesman, Anthony. Saudi Arabia enters the 21st Century. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. 413. Daryl, Champion. The Paradoxical Kingdom Saudi Arabia and the momentum of reform. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Eleanor, Doumato. Women and the Stability of Saudi Arabia Middle East Report. 15 pars. Jul. Aug, 1991. 34-37. Jerichow, Anders. The Saudi file: People, Power, Politics. Palgrave Macmillan Publishing, 1998. 340. Madden, Andrew. Saudi Arabia. Lonely Planet Publications, 2004. 208. Rashid, Nasser. & Shaheen, Esber. “Saudi Arabia: All You Need to Know”. Missouri: International Institute of Technology, 1995.  Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. Commercial Office. 12 April 2010 . Sarah, Whitson, Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia. 2004. 135. US Department of Commerce: Country Report on Saudi Arabia.12 April 2010 . Read More