A staggering number of workers have reportedly died during the construction of a 100-mile skyscraper in Saudi Arabia

The pains of progress

Because Saudi Arabia is constantly moving forward with its own massive and unprecedented construction projectsthe death toll is reported to be staggering.

In a new document from Great Britain Channel 3this dirty big secret is aired when a journalist goes undercover to learn the secrets of the Saudis.

While reporting, an anonymous reporter discovers an extremely uncomfortable truth: during her reporting multi-billion dollar project “Vision 2030”. — which launched in 2017 and includes ongoing (right?) 100-kilometer skyscraper called within it the “Line”. futuristic development of NEOM — more than 21,000 foreign workers died there.

Most of those who died while working on Vision 2030 were from South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India and Nepal, and those still alive told an anonymous undercover reporter how terrible their working conditions were. .

Despite some semi-finished products labor reforms faced by migrant workers in Saudi Arabia extreme exploitation This borders on slavery. Indeed, during the documentary, some workers tasked with building ditches and railway tunnels at NEOM said they were “treated like beggars” and forced to work 16-hour days.

“There isn’t much time to rest,” the employee said. “We are tired. We suffer from anxiety day and night.”

Accidents happen

It is not surprising that in such conditions – exacerbated by Saudi Arabia’s efforts to organize the World Cup in 2034 in a football stadium that has not yet been built – accidents are common. Taking into account extremely secretive character however, it is impossible to determine the true extent of damage and casualties in the kingdom.

The news of NEOM’s gruesome death toll follows earlier reports about it tens of thousands of indigenous people which were forcibly removed to make way for a city 100 miles long. as BBC revealed earlier this yearSaudi officials were ordered to kill any members of the Huwaitat tribe living in the desert region who did not comply.

When Guardian NEOM asked regarding claims submitted in the above-mentioned Channel 3 documentary, the representative said that the project “is currently assessing the proposals contained in this (program) and, if necessary, appropriate action will be taken.”

“We require all contractors and subcontractors to adhere to the NEOM Code of Conduct,” the representative continued, “which is based on Saudi Arabian law.”

This is a reminder the nightmarish reality experienced by workers in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia – and that we get many of our own killing planets fossil fuels from the monarchy these are values profits over people to such an extreme extent.

More on these chilling job statistics: The AI ​​you use was essentially trained by slave labor