Riyadh: The authorities in Saudi Arabia announced they have started investigating reports of the suffering of Nepali migrants working in Amazon warehouses in the Kingdom, AFP reported.
The announcement was made after human rights organization Amnesty International on Tuesday, October 10, published a report titled ‘Don’t worry, it’s a branch of Amazon‘, which said Amazon workers in Saudi Arabia had been subjected to inadequate living conditions, safety hazards, and wage theft.
The report is based on the information provided by 22 Nepalese men who worked in Amazon warehouses in Riyadh or Jeddah between 2021 and 2023.
The organization in its report alleges that Amazon failed to prevent workers from being deceived, cheated of their earnings, and denied alternative employment or leaving the country.
Amnesty accused recruitment agents and labour supply companies of misleading migrant workers despite paying 1,500 dollars (Rs 1,24,932) by taking out high loans. They were recruited under false pretences, promising to work directly for Amazon.
“I realized it was a different company on the day of the flight,” a worker named Bibek told Amnesty International. “I saw on my passport it said, ‘Al Basmah Co.’ but the agent said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s a branch of Amazon.'”
Upon their arrival in the Kingdom, they were subjected to unsanitary conditions, long hours, low pay, sick pay, salary denial, and arbitrary food allowance cuts, the report adds.
“The workers thought they were seizing a golden opportunity with Amazon but ended up suffering abuses which left many traumatised. Many of those we interviewed suffered abuses so severe that they are likely to amount to human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice.
“Amazon could have prevented and ended this appalling suffering long ago but its processes failed to protect these contracted workers in Saudi Arabia from shocking abuses,” he added.
In a statement received by AFP Thursday, October 12, the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) confirmed that the investigation began before the recent findings by Amnesty International.
The ministry has stated that any form of worker mistreatment or exploitation is unacceptable and is being thoroughly investigated by the competent Saudi authorities.
