African and Asian migrant workers are being locked up in unsanitary conditions, tortured, beaten and in some cases killed in Saudi Arabia, according to new research by Human Rights Watch.
The US-based organisation says it has spoken to seven Ethiopians who are incarcerated in a deportation centre in Riyadh, as well as two Indians who had previously been detained in the same centre.
Inside the centre, detainees are beaten with rubber-coated metal rods, which allegedly led to three deaths between October and November. Other interviewees said they had seen people, who were badly injured, being taken out of the centre and never returned.
“Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s richest countries, has no excuse for detaining migrant workers in appalling conditions, in the middle of a health pandemic, for months on end,” said Nadia Hardman, a refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Video footage of people crammed together, allegations of torture, and unlawful killings are shocking, as is the apparent unwillingness of the authorities to do anything to investigate conditions of abuse and hold those responsible to account.”
Cramped rooms
Detainees told the organisation that they are being held in cramped rooms with as many as 350 other people.
It is impossible to all sleep at once, so they take it in turns to lie down. There are between two and five working toilets, and there is no access to showers or soap.
Interviewees said there is no attempt to minimise the spread of Covid-19, or to protect people who would be considered more vulnerable to it, like older detainees or those with underlying health conditions.
While the most common nationality is Ethiopians, there are also Kenyans, Nigerians, Somalis, Ghanians and Chadians being held there. It is believed that Asian people, including Indians and Pakistanis, are held in separate rooms.
Accused
One of the Indian men interviewed said he had a valid residency permit, and had been working as an engineer for 25 years in Saudi Arabia, but he was accused of selling vegetables on the side.
There are an estimated 10 million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.
Before the coronavirus pandemic began, 10,000 Ethiopians were deported from Saudi Arabia every month, mostly for being found without valid residency permits.
Those who were interviewed said they had been given no opportunity to challenge their detention or deportation.
Ethiopians generally travel to Saudi Arabia by first crossing the sea to Yemen.
In October, The Irish Times interviewed an Ethiopian father who was planning to make the journey. While he knew there was a risk he would be quickly deported again, he was desperate to make money to support his three children. “I have no way of surviving here,” he said.
