Dutch company involved FIFA World Cup-linked in labor exploitation in Saudi-Arabia
The Dutch construction company Strukton played a role in the exploitation of migrant workers during the construction of a metro network in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, Amnesty International said in a report. For more than a decade, tens of thousands of migrant workers worked under deplorable conditions on the metro, which the human rights organization considers crucial for preparations for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, Trouw reports.
Human rights organizations identified similar exploitation in the run-up to the previous World Cup in Qatar. Strukton is the first Dutch company to be involved in labor exploitation related to the FIFA World Cup. According to Amnesty International, this is an “urgent warning” to all Dutch companies that see business opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Strukton participated in the construction of three metro lines in Riyadh between 2013 and 2021, with the support of the Dutch government. “For more than a decade, the Dutch government has encouraged and facilitated companies doing business in Saudi Arabia without clearly warning them of the human rights risks,” Amnesty International said. “For receiving government support, only vague, non-binding human rights agreements are imposed.”
The NGO interviewed 38 migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, and India who worked on the Riyadh Metro Project under conditions that violated Saudi law. Construction workers faced exorbitant recruitment fees up to €3,000, which immediately left them in debt, 60-hour workweeks, and wages of €1.70 per hour. Many suffered health problems from working in extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. One compared the conditions to “being in hell.”
Strukton was part of a consortium of main contractors in the project, receiving a contract worth €1 billion. The Utrecht-based construction company did not employ the exploited workers directly, but through temporary employment agencies down the supply chain. According to Amnesty International, construction projects in the Gulf region often involve numerous layers of contractors, subcontractors, and intermediaries, which fuels exploitation by making it easy to camouflage dodgy constructions and shift responsibility.
Strukton said in a written response that it will no longer be active in Saudi Arabia and will focus solely on Europe. The working conditions described by Amnesty International are “very worrying” and “regrettable,” a company spokesperson told Trouw. “This underscores that international mega-projects involve risks that are difficult to manage. It strengthens our conviction that the strategic decision to withdraw was the right one.”
The Ministry of Finance, which gave Strukton export credit insurance worth €231 million for this project, told Trouw that a comprehensive assessment was conducted at the time, and that additional monitoring has been in place for large or high-risk projects since 2022.
