Progress pains
As Saudi Arabia continues its massive and unprecedented construction projects, the death toll is reportedly staggering.
In a new documentary from Great Britain Channel 3this dirty big secret is broadcast when a female journalist goes undercover there to find out the secrets of the Saudis.
In the course of her reporting, the anonymous reporter uncovers an extremely uncomfortable truth: during the course of her multibillion-dollar Vision 2030 project – which was launched in 2017 and includes the ongoing project [right?] 100-mile skyscraper called “The Line” within its futuristic NEOM development – more than 21,000 foreign workers have died.
The majority of people who have died working on Vision 2030 are from South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India and Nepal – and those who are still alive told the anonymous undercover reporter in stark terms how horrible their working conditions are.
Despite some half-baked attempts at labor reform, migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are subjected to extreme exploitation bordering on slavery. During the documentary, some workers tasked with building trenches and railway tunnels in NEOM said they are “treated like beggars” and forced to work 16 hours a day.
“There is little time to rest,” said the worker. “We are getting tired. We suffer from anxiety day and night.”
Accidents happen
Unsurprisingly, under such circumstances – exacerbated by the Saudis’ attempt to host the 2034 World Cup in a football stadium that has not yet been built – accidents are common. However, given the highly secretive nature of the kingdom, it is impossible to know the true extent of the number of injuries and casualties.
News of NEOM’s horrific death toll follows earlier reporting of the tens of thousands of indigenous people forcibly displaced to make way for the 100-mile-long city. Like the BBC As revealed earlier this year, Saudi officials were ordered to kill all non-compliant members of the Huwaitat tribe living in the desert area.
When The Guardian asked NEOM about the claims in the Channel 3 documentary, a representative said the project is “reviewing the claims made in this documentary [program] and will take appropriate action where necessary.”
“We require all contractors and subcontractors to comply with NEOM’s Code of Conduct,” the representative continued, “based on the laws of Saudi Arabia.”
It reminds us of the nightmarish reality that workers in the Saudi kingdom experience – and that we get much of our planet-killing fossil fuels from a monarchy that so extremely values profits over people.
More on chilling labor statistics: That AI you’re using was actually trained by slave labor
