JEDDAH, 9 August 2004 — The plight of foreign workers in the Kingdom has recently been in the spotlight as a result of a report by Human Rights Watch entitled, “Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia.” Although the report was dismissed as “unbalanced” and “exaggerated” by some authorities, cases of exploitation nevertheless exist.
A case in point is at Chopsticks Restaurant on King Abdul Aziz Street in Jubail. The restaurant employees are living a nightmare that mirrors some actual cases discussed in the report, a nightmare in which most of them are getting part of — or no — salary.
“The four Bangladeshi busboys have not been paid since January and the Flipinos have not been paid since March. Most of their iqamas have expired; they won’t be released despite their salaries not having been paid. They don’t have any days off, and if they want to leave, they can resign but their employer will not pay for their repatriation,” according to an e-mail Arab News received from a restaurant patron who has befriended the staff.
An Arab News investigation has revealed that all of the patron’s claims are true; in other words, the rights of Chopsticks’ employees are being violated. One employee said, “My family and my home have been destroyed. I haven’t been able to send money home for months. My wife doesn’t believe me when I tell her what is happening with my pay and has left me, thinking I am sending the money somewhere else.”
When Arab News first contacted the owner, Saad Al-Anzy, he was intransigent. Between outbursts, however, Arab News was able to get a statement from Al-Anzy. He said: “The salaries have only been delayed for a month and a half. I have been open for ten years and only recently started having problems because I had opened a second restaurant. In a month all the employees will be paid.”
On the other hand, Chopsticks’ employees tell a different story. They say: “None of us have been paid our full salaries for over three and a half months. The four Bangladeshis who work here have not been paid anything since January. Some of us received SR400 in March and in July. But this is a small amount of our salary which is supposed to be SR1,450 per month but is now only SR750. Our employer cut salaries when there was a downturn in business but we aren’t even getting the SR750.”
According to several employees at Chopsticks, the owner plans to close the restaurant on Oct. 6 and send everyone home. One employee told Arab News: “Our contracts expire on Oct. 6 when the owner is likely to close the restaurant. I look forward to that because I have been told that we will be sent home.”
When Arab News contacted Al-Anzy a day later, he had calmed down enough to give his side of the story. He said: “This non-payment is a common thing in Saudi Arabia. I myself am a victim. The authorities owe me between SR50,000 and SR100,000. That is creating problems for me. In addition, most of my customers were Americans and Britons who have now left.”
Asked how he could open a second restaurant when he was suffering financially and unable to pay the employees in the first one, Al-Anzy said, “They are different projects with different finances. If you check the business accounts, you will find that the business is worth over three million riyals but what I have in the other account is roughly 100,000.”
Asked if he would be paying all the employees their arrears and their tickets home, Al-Anzy said, “Of course. 100 percent. Without a doubt.” He added: “The employees have to understand that this business should pay for itself. At this point it is not making enough money even to pay the salaries.”
