Saudi Arabia: Neom workers talk ’16-hour working days’ in ITV undercover film

To build Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s flagship project, workers are being forced to work grueling hours far beyond legal limits. Neom Megacity, according to a new ITV documentary.

One worker said he regularly worked 16-hour shifts for 14 days to build “The Line,” the 170-kilometer straight-line city being built in the northwest. Saudi Arabia.

Accordingly “Discovering the Kingdom: Inside Saudi Arabia”In the series, which will be broadcast this Sunday at 22:15, according to Saudi law, workers must work a maximum of 60 hours, including overtime, every week.

But in addition to long shifts, workers told an undercover reporter that they had to take an unpaid, three-hour bus ride to the desert area and back, leaving them with about four hours of sleep time.

“We are built to work extremely hard. There is little time to rest. We are getting tired. We suffer from anxiety day and night,” said a worker.

“Saudi does not care much about citizens of other countries. “We are treated like beggars.”

Undercover footage shot by workers for the documentary offers some of the first unfiltered looks at the ambitious project, which is part of the Vision 2030 strategy to shift the kingdom’s economy away from oil dependence.

Another worker, who filmed himself removing piles of rocks and soil from inside the digger’s cage, said workers were “working non-stop.”

“We can’t get enough rest,” he said. “This lack of sleep has caused many accidents. There have been many. “Just last month there were four or five cases.”

Nicholas McGeehan, director of UK-based human rights organization FairSquare, said workers’ working hours at The Line were “well beyond what international minimum standards allow”.

“The reality is that workers throughout Saudi Arabia are subject to extremely abusive and dangerous exploitation. Abuses occur systematically across the country,” McGeehan said.

Migrant workers make up three-quarters of Saudi Arabia’s workforce and are critical to Vision 2030 projects.

Based on data published in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, the film reports that 21,000 foreign workers from the three countries have died since 2016, when Vision 2030 was launched eight years ago.

Neom told the producers that they were evaluating the allegations in the documentary and would take the necessary steps when necessary.

“We require all contractors and subcontractors to comply with the Neom Code of Conduct, which is based on Saudi Arabian law and International Labor Organization policies, and the living and working conditions of their workers are frequently inspected.” the organization said.

The Saudi government did not respond to the filmmakers’ requests for comment.

Alongside The Line, Neom will include an eight-sided city floating on water, a ski resort with a folded vertical village, and an oft-touted luxury island resort in the Red Sea. bright, cinematic images.

But the project has also faced human rights concerns, including accusations that the Saudi government forcibly displaced members of the Howeitat tribe, who have lived in the Tabuk region for centuries, to make room for Neom.

A former Saudi intelligence officer He told Middle East Eye Saudi security officials were ordered to use lethal force to kill residents resisting evacuation in early 2020.

UK-based human rights organization Alqst, reported He said at least 47 members of the tribe have since been arrested or detained for refusing to leave, five of whom have been sentenced to death.

There are two managers said publicly They left the project, expressing concerns about the treatment of Howeitat.

There also appear to be issues delivering on the grand design of the project.

Bloomberg in April reported It was stated that The Line, which is expected to host 1.5 million people by 2030, has been downsized and is currently expected to have fewer than 300,000 residents, and only 2.4 km out of 170 km have been completed by then.