DAMMAM, 11 December — Their dreams have died. They live in subhuman conditions. They are victims of extreme exploitation.

They are the thousands of expatriate laborers who came here with the ambition of providing a comfortable lifestyle to their families, securing a bright future for their children and establishing for themselves a dignified position in their respective societies. To secure the job they are presently doing, these laborers paid a fortune to their local recruiting agents back home — often after selling their land, houses and jewelry, and even taking out loans.

Most of these laborers are Bangladeshi. Some are Indian, Sri Lankan and Filipino. Most are hired by maintenance and cleaning companies, some of which have major contracts with the municipality. A few have contracts with private sector outfits.

Their jobs include collecting garbage, sweeping streets and cleaning offices. A few end up as office boys.

These laborers are normally paid SR300 a month. Occasionally, their wage can be as little as SR250. Many of them allege that they were misled by their recruiting agents, who promised that the salaries would be in the range of SR700 to SR1,000.

But what makes their condition worse is that for the first three months of their jobs they are not paid any salary at all. Their managers tell them this provides a kind of security money. After the three months are over, they are paid their first month’s salary.

What happened to the rest? How did they survive? Most such companies have arrangements with small shopping centers, and the laborers are advised to buy essentials from there on credit. When they get their first salary, that credit is deducted from it.

With this meager SR300 income per month, these workers are expected to pay their iqama (resident permit) fees and for their renewal, their exit-re-entry visa fees, and all other official charges required for their stay in the Kingdom.

What renders their condition worse still — indeed, what leaves them below what is required to feel any human dignity — is that they are not even allowed to carry their iqamas. Instead, a photocopy is provided. If passport officials arrest them as a result, they languish in jail for few days. The company does pay the fine incurred and secures their release. But then the fine is deducted from their salary and these companies also deduct money for the days of work missed while they were imprisoned.

“It is more like bonded labor,” said Rais Hassan (not his real name). He’s a Bangladeshi working in a contracting company, which has a contract for the maintenance of Dammam Industrial City.

“I came here three years ago with many hopes and dreams. We are poor peasants from the Chittagong district in Bangladesh. The recruiting agent assured me there would be a salary of SR750 a month. That’s a lot of money in Bangladesh. And we were also assured we’d get free food and accommodation.

But upon arrival, all that turned out to be a myth. There is no free food. The salary is just SR300, and that isn’t paid regularly. Yes, we are provided free accommodation. But we are 12 persons in one room, which does not have an air-conditioner,” he said.

Zaglul, a resident of Dhaka, works for a company which has a cleaning contract for a city in the Eastern Province. He says that he and many of his colleagues do not get a regular salary. Some of them have written petitions to the Governor’s office. When Arab News contacted the manager of the company’s branch, he admitted that salaries were not paid. But he claimed the reason was unpaid bills.

When such workers say they want to leave and return to their home country, officials of these companies harass them. Some of them even claim to have been beaten up.

Dalbir Singh of Ludhiana in Indian Punjab drives a garbage collection truck. He has a diploma in electrical engineering. He has not been home for the past three years and has not sent any money for more than 18 months, he said.

Under these working conditions, what are they supposed to do? Of course, we can say: Go back home! But the job situation is worse in their home countries, where abject poverty is the norm. “We are caught in a vicious circle,” said Rais Hassan.

In order to sustain themselves and support their families back home, these laborers eventually take up a second menial job in contravention of the Saudi law. A few companies even show their “compassion” by asking their menial staff to take up other jobs. But, almost needless to say, it is entirely at the risk of the employee.

A majority of them end up washing cars outside buildings, offices and shopping malls. Many of them take up the job of houseboys at residential complexes.

“My salary is SR300, but in addition I earn around SR1,000 by washing cars and working as a houseboy at two apartments in Dammam,” one Bangladeshi told this reporter.

He is happy that last month he managed to send home SR5,000 to cover the cost of his sister’s marriage.

“I earned this money by working almost 18 hours a day for the whole of last year,” he explained.

The Labor Department always deals promptly with complaints made by such workers. A just decision comes very swiftly. Unfortunately, the implementation of it can take forever. Unless these workers have their interests looked after by an independent, official body, their conditions are unlikely to improve.