Indian migrants recall Saudi nightmare

They left India for Saudi Arabia with big dreams, but have returned with only harrowing tales after an oil price slump threw the economy into turmoil, leaving thousands of poor migrant labourers stranded.

The workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines were left destitute, without enough money to get home or even to buy food after losing their jobs.

This week, around 40 workers from Bihar finally arrived home with stories of being “left to die” by their employer Saudi Oger, the once-mighty firm led by Lebanon’s billionaire former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

The company, which at one time had some 50,000 workers on its payroll, was hit by a drop in income from its core construction business after Saudi Arabia delayed or cancelled projects in the face of plummeting oil revenues.

“They closed down the mess (canteen) suddenly. For three days we did not have even water to drink. There was no power either,” electrician Imam Hussain said after landing in New Delhi this week.

“I was even arrested because my identification documents were not renewed by my employer. The situation there was worse than hell,” said the 27-year-old, who was working on the renovation of Saudi King Salman’s palace in Riyadh.

Hussain was among millions of poor Asians working in the Gulf states, where human rights groups say many suffer exploitation and abuses with no channels for redress.

Under the kingdom’s kafala system, most foreign workers are barred from moving to a new job without their boss’s consent before their contracts end, leaving many trapped.

It has been criticised by rights groups as a form of bonded labour or even slavery.

Hussain and his fellow migrants had spent several days in Delhi as they waited to go home to Bihar, sleeping on mattresses on the floor of a budget hotel’s garage and eating on a filthy, open terrace.

But their huge relief at coming home meant they barely noticed the discomfort.

“We are just so relieved to be back home finally. All we want is to see our family and start our lives afresh,” said Santosh Singh, a low-wage construction labourer as he waited to board a train to his native village.