Dutch Company Linked to Labour Exploitation on Saudi FIFA World Cup Infrastructure

The Dutch construction company Strukton played a role in the exploitation of migrant workers during the construction of a metro network in Riyadh, according to a report released by Amnesty International. For more than a decade, tens of thousands of migrant workers laboured under deplorable conditions on the metro system, which human rights organisations consider crucial infrastructure for preparations for the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Strukton is the first Dutch company to be implicated in labor exploitation related to FIFA World Cup preparations.

Amnesty International interviewed 38 migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, and India who worked on the Riyadh Metro Project between 2014 and 2025 under conditions that violated Saudi law. The newly opened metro system, promoted as the "backbone" of Riyadh's public transport network, was built by leading international and Saudi companies under government direction.

The workers faced systematic exploitation that began even before they left their home countries. Workers were forced to pay between $700 and $3,500 in recruitment fees and associated costs to agents in their home countries, forcing many into serious debt despite Saudi law prohibiting worker-borne recruitment fees. One worker from Nepal was forced to sell his wife's family's gold savings to afford the exorbitant fees for a job paying just $266 per month.

Once in Saudi Arabia, conditions worsened. Construction workers faced 60-hour workweeks and wages of €1.70 per hour, with many suffering health problems from working in extreme heat with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. One worker compared the conditions to "being in hell," saying "When I work in the extreme heat, I feel like I'm in hell…I think – How did I end up here? Did I commit anything wrong so that God is punishing me?"

Strukton was part of a consortium of main contractors in the project, receiving a contract worth €1 billion for the construction of three metro lines in Riyadh between 2013 and 2021, with the support of the Dutch government. The Utrecht-based construction company did not employ the exploited workers directly, but through temporary employment agencies and subcontractors down the supply chain.

According to Amnesty International, construction projects in the Gulf region often involve numerous layers of contractors, subcontractors, and intermediaries, which enables exploitation by making it easy to obscure responsibility and shift blame between different parties in the chain.

Strukton has announced it will no longer operate in Saudi Arabia and will focus exclusively on European projects. A company spokesperson told Dutch newspaper Trouw that the working conditions described by Amnesty International are "very worrying" and "regrettable," adding that "this underscores that international mega-projects involve risks that are difficult to manage. It strengthens our conviction that the strategic decision to withdraw was the right one."

Amnesty International said "For more than a decade, the Dutch government has encouraged and facilitated companies doing business in Saudi Arabia without clearly warning them of the human rights risks. For receiving government support, only vague, non-binding human rights agreements are imposed".

Strukton received significant Dutch government backing for the Riyadh Metro project. In 2013, the company obtained export credit insurance worth €231 million through Atradius Dutch State Business (ADSB) for investments in the design and construction of the metro system. However, Amnesty's investigation found that the human rights due diligence Strukton conducted was completely inadequate, with the company shifting responsibility for human rights oversight to the consortium leader.

According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands ranks in the top three countries Saudi Arabia wants to partner with for major projects under its Vision 2030 development plan. A major trade mission to Saudi Arabia is scheduled for December, led by the Minister for Foreign Trade. Amnesty International has expressed concern about what the new trade policy, which states that values will "weigh less heavily" in trade promotion and policy, means for Dutch companies seeking lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia.

The Riyadh Metro is considered critical infrastructure for Saudi Arabia's preparations to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, with workers being forced to undertake 10-hour days in 45-degree heat while wages were stolen and employers denied medical treatment. The pattern of exploitation mirrors similar abuses documented during preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where thousands of migrant workers faced dangerous conditions and systematic rights violations.

FIFA's evaluation of Saudi Arabia's World Cup bid has been criticised as "an astonishing whitewash of the country's atrocious human rights record" with "no meaningful commitments that will prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being evicted or activists from being arrested," according to Amnesty International.

Human rights organisations warn that without fundamental reforms, the 2034 World Cup preparations will likely see tens or hundreds of thousands of additional workers face similar exploitation over the coming decade.

Despite official Saudi claims that reforms have been implemented, the kafala sponsorship system (which binds migrant workers to their employers) persists in practice, combined with weak enforcement of labor protections and a permissive climate for exploitation. Inspections focus more on compliance with Saudization targets (requirements to hire Saudi nationals) and checking the legality of workers' employment status than on safeguarding their rights.

The Saudi government's failure to establish a universal living wage entrenches discriminatory low pay among migrant workers, most of whom are from South Asia and Africa. Workers told Amnesty that while they were not directly forced to work overtime, their basic salaries were so low they felt they had no choice but to accept additional hours just to survive and send remittances home to families.

Amnesty International describes the Strukton case as an "urgent warning" to all Dutch companies seeking business opportunities in Saudi Arabia. The organisation emphasises that companies unable or unwilling to conduct comprehensive human rights due diligence should reconsider operating in Saudi Arabia, where human rights are systematically repressed and freedom of expression and association are effectively non-existent.

Dagmar Oudshoorn, director of Amnesty International Netherlands, stated: "This serious exploitation in construction is a clear warning for companies hoping to secure lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia in the coming years. Companies that are not willing or able to carry out adequate and enhanced human rights due diligence should not start activities in the country."