Rights group slams Saudi firm

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has hit out at Saudi Arabia's Nukhba House of Medical Services over a pay dispute which has left 55 Asian health workers stranded in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's Labour Court is also accused of gross inaction by HRW after setting a tribunal date that will leave the workers stranded without legal status or pay for over four months.

In March, 55 Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi workers complained to the Ministry of Labour that Nukhba required them to work an extra year after their contracts expired, had failed to pay their return tickets home, retained up to eight months' wages, and withheld approval for the exit visas required under Saudi law.

"The Labor Court is effectively punishing these 55 men, prolonging their forced stay in the country and leaving them penniless for months," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW.

The workers are currently being housed in a single flat in Riyadh. As the company has not renewed the workers' residency permits, they risk arrest and summary deportation if they venture outside their flat.

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