Scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia have died in gruesome yet avoidable workplace-related accidents, including falling from buildings, electrocution, and even decapitation. Many migrant deaths in Saudi Arabia are erroneously classified as “natural” and are neither investigated nor compensated. The process for compensation for work-related accidents is long and burdensome. Saudi authorities, FIFA, and other employers should ensure that all migrant worker deaths, regardless of perceived cause, time, and place are properly investigated and families of deceased workers are treated with dignity, and receive fair and timely compensation.
Any foreigner on a Saudi work visa has their passport held by their employer, from bankers and doctors to ditch diggers. That’s not to minimize the appalling living and working conditions of low-paid foreign workers there.