[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said [HRW report] Sunday that Saudi Arabia’s new labor laws have helped to stop abuses of migrant workers, but the reforms fail to meet the needs of domestic workers. The 38 amendments [amendments, in Arabic] went into effect last month. The Labor ministry has increased fines for employers that violate the new requirements, including forbidding employers from confiscating passports, forbidding employers from paying salaries late, and forbidding employers from not showing employees their contracts. However, migrant women who work in family homes are not included under the new amendments. HRW said that Saudi Arabia should strongly enforce the new labor amendments and authorities should investigate any forced labor, including passport confiscation and salary withholding. Although HRW says the reforms do not address all the migrant worker abuses, they do address many of them.

Migrant workers rights have been a controversy throughout the world for years. In February HRW reported a series of labor abuses [JURIST report] in the UAE despite attempts at reform. The report detailed the exploitation of migrant workers building a high-profile cultural complex in the UAE that includes branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums. HRW acknowledged that governmental authorities had taken “positive steps” to improve working conditions for the migrant workers but said some workers involved in the project still faced abuses, including employers confiscating passports, withholding pay and benefits, and housing workers in poor accommodations. The report also noted that those who go on strike to protest conditions face deportation.