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Summary: a damning new investigation reveals that the migrant workforce powering Saudi Arabia’s ambitious transition to renewable energy is facing systemic abuse, including forced labour, wage theft, and deadly working conditions, with major international banks and corporations implicated in the supply chain.
The cranes and solar arrays stretching across the Saudi desert are meant to symbolise a future built on clean, sustainable power. But for the migrant workers toiling to build this future, the reality is one of exploitation, fear, and dehumanisation, described by one worker as “hell” and conditions “like jail.”
These are the findings of an explosive new report, “The Human Cost of Saudi Arabia’s Green Energy Boom,” published today by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts of companies across the globe. The investigation uncovers egregious human rights abuses on nine flagship renewable energy projects, directly linking them to household-name energy firms like ACWA Power and Air Products, and the global banks financing them, including Standard Chartered, HSBC, and JPMorgan Chase.
The report raises urgent questions about corporate accountability in the global energy transition, particularly as Saudi Arabia aggressively positions itself as a green leader and seeks to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, with the futuristic city NEOM—and its controversial Green Hydrogen Project—as a proposed centrepiece.
A Culture of Forced Labour and Debt Bondage
Drawing on testimonies from 34 Nepali and Bangladeshi workers, the report presents a picture of systemic failure. The most shocking finding is that over half (53%) of the workers interviewed reported experiencing five or more indicators of forced labour, as defined by the International Labour Organization.
The cycle of exploitation begins before they even reach the worksite. Every single worker interviewed had paid significant recruitment fees to secure their jobs, debts they were unable to reclaim. This practice, explicitly banned by international standards, traps workers in debt bondage from the outset.
“We were treated as if we were machines,” one worker told researchers, encapsulating the alarming dehumanisation documented in the report.
Wage theft and poverty pay are rampant. Workers reported an average monthly salary of just $370 without overtime, with many labouring seven days a week. This is compounded by severe restrictions on freedom of movement, with workers unable to change jobs or leave their accommodations freely, a legacy of the much-criticised Kafala sponsorship system that persists despite government reforms.
“Like Jail”: Deadly Conditions and Corporate Negligence
The physical conditions are equally dire. Workers described labouring in extreme temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius (122°F) in summer, with inadequate water, shade, or breaks. In winter, workers’ fingers would “go numb, and [their] body trembles with cold.”
Eighteen of the twenty workers questioned on safety reported unsafe conditions, including:
- Extreme heat exposure leading to workers fainting and bleeding.
- Intense cold and dust storms.
- “Infestations” of snakes and scorpions, with one worker hospitalised after a bite.
- Dangerous machinery, resulting in workers losing limbs in vehicle collisions.
Tragically, the human cost is measured in lives. The report documents six migrant deaths reported by interviewees. These include two suicides by Indian workers at a labour camp and the death of a worker on the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project from a suspected heart attack after heat exposure. A safety supervisor revealed that production targets were often prioritised over safety, stating, “company management… controls the department of safety… the workers safety is compromised.”
A Culture of Fear and Impunity
Perhaps the most insidious finding is the culture of fear that silences dissent. The report directly links corporate impunity to the lack of effective grievance mechanisms and severe retaliation against those who speak out.
Around a third of workers said they or their colleagues faced retaliation for raising complaints, including intimidation, dismissal, and deportation. Protests were reported on four projects; in all but one case, some or all protesting workers were fired and sent home.
“If someone spoke the truth about the company, he would be fired,” one worker said. This fear, combined with the ban on unions and collective bargaining in Saudi Arabia, creates an environment where abuses can flourish unchecked. Companies are able to operate with impunity because workers have no trustworthy avenue to seek remedy without risking their livelihoods and residency.
Implicated Corporations and a Global Warning
The BHRRC report names 62 major companies involved in the projects where abuses were identified. These include energy developers ACWA Power, Air Products, and Saudi Aramco, and construction giants Larsen and Toubro and PowerChina. Crucially, it also points to the financiers enabling these projects, such as international banks Standard Chartered, HSBC, and JPMorgan Chase, which are backing the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project and other ventures.
Catriona Fraser, Migrant Workers Researcher at the BHRRC, stated: “As Saudi Arabia positions itself as a leader in the green economy, migrant workers – who are the backbone of their renewable energy projects – are being exploited and dehumanised in the very industry that should symbolise a sustainable future.”
Fraser warned that Saudi Arabia is a “microcosm” of a broader global problem. “As renewable industries expand, governments and companies worldwide increasingly rely on migrant labour to fill workforce gaps… This makes Saudi Arabia a critical test case for the renewables sector: if companies can address migrant rights risks here, benefits can be reaped worldwide. We cannot have an energy transition that is built on exploitation and abuse.”
The report concludes with urgent recommendations for companies and financiers, demanding they conduct rigorous human rights due diligence, ensure fair recruitment, provide safe working conditions, and use their leverage to protect workers rather than cutting contracts in a way that leaves them more vulnerable.
The findings present a stark contradiction: a green energy boom, marketed as a path to a sustainable future, is being built on a foundation of human suffering. As billions flow into Saudi renewables, the report challenges the world to ask whether this energy transition is truly just, or simply exporting injustice to a new industry.