Amazon reimburses hundreds of workers who were victims of abuse in Saudi Arabia

US online retail giant Amazon said on Friday it had refunded $1.9 million to more than 700 contract workers in Saudi Arabia who were subject to illegal hiring fees and other abuses.

The human rights organization Amnesty International denounced in October the conditions imposed on immigrants hired by third-party companies to work in Amazon warehouses in the Gulf kingdom, pushing the multinational to open an investigation.

Violations of company policies.

“We found cases where subcontracted workers were forced to pay fees, including recruitment fees and other costs,” by Saudi recruitment agents or labor supply companies, the company said in a statement, claiming to have ” paid $1.9 million in refunds” to more than 700 of them.

The investigation also found other violations of company policies, including “poor housing conditions, contract and wage irregularities, and delays in resolving worker complaints,” according to Amazon, which says it has imposed improvements on its suppliers. . Amnesty International relied on the testimonies of 22 Nepalis who worked in Amazon warehouses in Saudi Arabia between 2021 and 2023.

“Essential step”

Pensant être directly embauchés par l’entreprise américaine, certains s’étaient lourdement endettés pour payer les frais imposés par les recruteurs, avant de se retrouver “privés de leurs revenus, hébergés dans des conditions épouvantables et empêchés de trouver un autre emploi ou de quitter the country”. Following the publication of the report, Saudi authorities indicated that these “alarming facts (…) were already the subject of an ongoing investigation.”

“Amazon’s reimbursement of illegal recruitment fees is an essential step,” responded Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice, Steve Cockburn. However, he estimated that “the hundreds of other workers” who have already left the company and the country should also be taken into account.

“They may have faced similar abuses, including deception, wage theft and high recruitment fees. They too deserve justice and compensation,” he stressed.