Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Saudi Arabia (Ratification: 1978)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Saudi Arabia (Ratification: 2021)

The Committee notes the Government's reports.

I. Article 25 of the Convention

1. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's statement that illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour is prohibited and punishable as a penal offence whether a worker is an agricultural or domestic one or pertaining to any other category. It further notes that cases can be brought to court free of charge and that any person who commits such an offence is punished by way of "ta'zir", which is a legal punishment of every offence for which there is no expiation and no determined punishment. The sanction may vary according to the type of offence at the discretion of the judge; it may be a fine, imprisonment or any other sanction. The Government indicates that no cases have yet been brought and that, if there is a particular case, it will inform the Committee of the practical application.

2. The Committee notes the explanations in the Government's report. It also takes due note of the Government's statement that the principle laid down by this Convention is agreed upon and that there is no controversy over the fact that illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour is prohibited and punishable as an offence whether a worker is an agricultural or domestic one or pertaining to any other category. It observes however that the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour does not seem to be punishable as a penal offence under secular law and that secular law does not seem to impose a penal sanction in such cases. The Committee therefore invites the Government to take the necessary measures to include in its secular law a provision to ensure the full implementation of Article 25 of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report what measures have been taken to that effect.

3. In its previous comments, the Committee had referred to the situation of migrant workers. Available information indicated that these workers might be subjected to conditions of work (such as retention of passport, non-payment of wages, substitution of contracts, etc.) which might transform their employment into a situation of near slavery and which might come under this Convention. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government. It notes that the Government's report refers to the Labour Code, which has imposed upon the employer many obligations such as to treat workers with respect and decency and to refrain from any word or deed that might affect the dignity of the worker. The Code provides for sanctions in case of violation of this rule. Any violations, according to the Government, are confined to individual cases and are not a general phenomenon. The worker who is subject to such a practice can always resort to the competent labour offices which are established everywhere in the regions and cities of the Kingdom, and to settlement procedures which are simplified and free of charge. The Committee asks the Government to give information on the official practice in the matter. For example, how are the workers concerned informed on their rights, particularly as regards the possibility to resort to labour offices, and the number of cases examined as well as examples of settlements.

4. The Committee notes the detailed information in the Government's report. It observes however that the Labour Code provides protection for workers covered by the Labour Code, but the Code does not cover agricultural and domestic workers, of which, according to information from a number of sources, many are foreign migrant workers. It would appear then that a significant proportion of workers might thus be deprived of the general system of protection provided under the Labour Code.

5. The Committee recalls that, in its General Report in 1995 (paragraph 59) it had drawn the attention of governments to the specific situation of a large group of migrants for employment, namely migrant domestic workers. The vulnerability of these workers, who are in their great majority women and young persons, arises principally out of two aspects of their work, first that they are employed in domestic work, for which only a very minimal protection is set out in labour legislation, and second that by working abroad they are outside the direct legal protection provided by their country of origin. The inherent difficulty of the situation of migrant workers is magnified by the absence of autonomy of domestic workers in respect of their employers. The Committee also refers in this respect to the General Survey on migrant workers it is carrying out at the present session, and which refers to this situation.

6. The Committee again invites the Government to take the necessary measures to extend the scope of the Labour Code and thus the protection of the Convention to these categories of workers and to report any measures taken to that effect.

II. Freedom of workers to leave the public service

7. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report. It will examine the text provided by the Government at its next session.