Geneva, 6 June 2025 – The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) today launches its latest report, “Beyond the Façade: The Realities of Labour Reforms in Saudi Arabia,” a comprehensive shadow assessment that challenges Saudi Arabia’s official reform narrative and exposes the persistence of systemic labour exploitation, particularly of migrant workers.

The report is released amid mounting global pressure on Saudi Arabia to uphold international labour standards. Just yesterday, 36 workers’ delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILC) of the ILO submitted a formal complaint calling for a Commission of Inquiry into the country’s continued violations, particularly in the construction and domestic work sectors. The complaint, coordinated by the ITUC and ITUC-Africa, is supported by trade unions from across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

This follows BWI’s own complaint filed in 2024, backed by over 50 trade union organisations from 35 countries across five continents, as well as leading human rights organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FairSquare, Equidem, and the Solidarity Center.

Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary, stated: “This report makes clear that what Saudi Arabia calls reform is often little more than repackaged control and rebranding. Workers still face debt, deception, and retaliation. Until workers have the right to organise and defend their rights collectively, no reform will be real or lasting.”

Based on a year-long investigation, the report documents how:

• The kafala system has been rebranded, not abolished;
• Employers retain control over workers’ mobility and legal status;
• Migrant workers are excluded from representation and redress mechanisms;
• Wage systems and safety inspections systematically fail to protect workers;
• Digital platforms are used as tools of surveillance, employer control, and retaliation;
• FIFA risks complicity by awarding the World Cup to a country where trade unions are banned and forced labour persists.

Patrick Vandenberghe, ACV-CSC BIE Belgium and Chair of BWI’s Sports Campaign Working Group, warned: “Saudi Arabia is using mega sporting events to whitewash its labour record. With the 2034 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, the stakes could not be higher. FIFA must not repeat the failures of the past, and must ensure that the hundreds of thousands of workers building the stadiums are protected, represented, and heard.”

Gerardo Martínez, CGT-RA and UOCRA Argentina, member of the BWI World Council and of the ILO Governing Body, and a signatory to the complaint added: “What happens in Saudi Arabia matters globally. When a country builds international prestige on the backs of exploited workers, it sets a dangerous precedent for all of us. For trade unions in Latin America, defending migrant workers’ rights in Saudi Arabia is part of the broader struggle for dignity, justice, and the universal right to organise.”

The report will be presented today, 6 June, during a BWI event in Geneva from 18:00 to 20:00. The full report and summary version are available on BWI’s website.

Read the full report “Beyond the Façade” here.

Read the executive summary of the “Beyond the Façade” report here

For inquiries, please contact: info@bwint.org