A new report, Don’t worry, it’s a branch of Amazon, shows how Amazon failed to prevent contracted workers in Saudi Arabia from being repeatedly exposed to human rights abuses, despite receiving complaints directly from workers about their treatment over a lengthy period of time. In many cases, it is highly likely that the abuses suffered by workers amounted to human trafficking, given the deception that occurred during their recruitment, and the exploitation endured once they were there.

“The workers thought they were seizing a golden opportunity with Amazon but instead ended up suffering abuses which left many traumatized. We suspect hundreds more endured similar appalling treatment. Many of those we interviewed suffered abuses so severe that they are likely to amount to human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of economic and social justice.

“Amazon could have prevented and ended this appalling suffering long ago but its processes failed to protect these contracted workers in Saudi Arabia from shocking abuses. Amazon should urgently compensate all those who have been harmed, and ensure this can never happen again.

“The government of Saudi Arabia also bears a heavy responsibility. It must urgently investigate these abuses and reform its labour system to guarantee workers their fundamental rights, including being able to freely change employers and leave the country without conditions.”

The report is based on information collected from 22 men from Nepal who worked in Amazon’s warehouses in Riyadh or Jeddah between 2021 and 2023, and who were employed by two third-party labour supply contractors - Abdullah Fahad Al-Mutairi Support Services Co. (Al-Mutairi), or Basmah Al-Musanada Co. for Technical Support Services (Basmah).

Names of interviewees have been changed to protect their identity. Amnesty International has shared details of the investigation with Amazon, Al-Mutairi and Basmah, as well as the Saudi Arabian government. The others have not responded.

To secure work at Amazon’s facilities in Saudi Arabia, the interviewees, with one exception, paid recruitment agents in Nepal an average of US$1,500. Some took high-interest loans to pay the fees.

During the recruitment process, the agents, sometimes in collusion with the Saudi Arabian labour supply companies, deceived many of the workers into believing they would be employed directly by Amazon.

Some workers began to suspect that Amazon was not their direct employer when they received their contracts and documentation just hours before they were due to fly, but having already paid recruitment fees felt they had no choice but to continue. Others realized only after arriving in Saudi Arabia.

One interviewee, Bibek, said: “I realized it was a different company on the day of the flight…I saw on my passport it said, ‘Al Basmah Co.’ but the agent said, ‘don’t worry, it’s a branch of Amazon’.”

In Saudi Arabia, the workers were mostly housed, for months, in dirty and overcrowded accommodation, sometimes infested with bed bugs. They were put to work in Amazon warehouses, but the contractors often withheld part of their salaries and/or food allowances without explanation, and underpaid overtime.

In the warehouses, workers said they were repeatedly required to lift very heavy items, ran to meet gruelling performance targets, were constantly monitored, and not allowed to rest adequately. In some cases this resulted in injuries and illness. One worker said he suffered a suspected broken arm and was signed off work for a month by a doctor, but because the supply company denied workers sick pay he felt that he had to resume work within two weeks.

Most workers signed two-year contracts with the labour supply companies but many spent less than 12 months at Amazon’s facilities before the work ended, which some likened to being “fired”.

Amazon told Amnesty International that between March and June 2023 it conducted audits of Al-Mutairi and other contractors and found abuses consistent with the findings. It also said it recently hired consultants to review supply companies’ labour practices and remedy some abuses, including reimbursing the recruitment fees of those interviewed for the report, although to date none have received any money.

Mr Cockburn said: “It’s time for Amazon to finally put things right for workers who have suffered so much, and for Saudi Arabia to fundamentally reform its exploitative labour system.”