Saudi Arabia is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women primarily from South and East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa voluntarily migrate to Saudi Arabia as domestic workers or low-skilled laborers; many of these workers subsequently face involuntary servitude. Non-payment of wages is the most common complaint from foreign workers in the Kingdom, while employers’ withholding of workers’ passports remains widespread. The foreign worker population is the most vulnerable to trafficking in Saudi Arabia, particularly female domestic workers due to their isolation inside private residences. The ILO estimated in 2013 that Saudi Arabia is one of the largest employers of domestic workers in the world, a sector with the highest average working hours. Some foreign nationals who have experienced indicators of trafficking have been placed on death row. Although many migrant workers sign contracts, some report work conditions substantially different from those described in the contract, while other workers never see a contract at all. Some migrant workers voluntarily enter into illegal arrangements and pay a Saudi national
to sponsor their residence permit while they seek freelance work, thus becoming vulnerable to possible extortion by their sponsors. Due to Saudi Arabia’s requirement that foreign workers obtain an exit visa from their employers to legally leave the country, some are forced to work for months or years beyond their contract term because their employers will not grant them an exit permit. Some women, primarily from Asia and Africa, are believed to be forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia. After running away from abusive employers, some female domestic workers are kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Children from South Asia, East Africa, and Yemen are subjected to forced labor as beggars and street vendors, facilitated by criminal gangs. A government study conducted in 2011 reported most beggars in Saudi Arabia are Yemenis between the ages of 16 and 25. Migrants from Yemen and the Horn of Africa enter Saudi Arabia illegally—sometimes with the help of smugglers—via the Yemeni border; some of them may be trafficking victims. Some Saudi nationals engage in sex tourism in various countries worldwide. The Saudi government did
not report efforts to address child sex tourism by Saudi nationals abroad through any law enforcement efforts. Some Saudi men used legally contracted “temporary marriages” to sexually exploit young girls and women—including Syrian refugees—overseas.
The US State Department's 2015 report on human trafficking: Download Human Trafficking N-S 2015
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