A Times investigation has revealed that hundreds of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are being illegally sold and trafficked through Haraj.sa, the country’s largest online marketplace. Sellers, all of whom are Saudi citizens, advertise migrant workers as available to buy or rent as maids, cleaners, nannies, and drivers. The app, which received 2.5 million visits last year, is still available on the Apple and Google Play stores despite being criticized by the UN for facilitating modern slavery. Foreign laborers in Saudi Arabia, which has the third largest migrant population in the world, can work and live in the country through the Kafala system, in which a Saudi citizen, known as the “Kafeel,” is responsible for the worker and their visa.
The Kafala system has recently been reformed as part of the 2030 Saudi Vision, which offers greater freedoms to workers in the private sector, such as the ability to open bank accounts and move jobs without permission. The reforms do not apply to the four million domestic workers, farmers, and drivers in the country, who are still restricted. According to the UN, the retention of workers’ identity documents, a practice admitted to by all sellers interviewed by The Times, is a violation of international human rights and an indicator of forced labor and abuse. Many sellers on the app expect their maids to work day and night without breaks for as little as £5 per day, and some admitted to physically disciplining their workers. Equidem, a global human rights organization, has called the problem of trafficking maids in Saudi Arabia a “humanitarian and moral crisis because of technology.”
Tech giants such as Apple and Google have been accused of “facilitating the exploitation of these workers through the technology supply chain.” Both companies have stated that they prohibit the solicitation or promotion of illegal behavior including human trafficking and child exploitation.
