Riyadh factory fire kills 16 Bangladeshis amid migrant safety concerns

Sixteen Bangladeshi migrant workers died on Sunday when a fire tore through a sofa factory in Riyadh, leaving families thousands of miles away awaiting the return of their remains and questions about how the men died still unanswered.

The blaze broke out in the Musa Sanaiya industrial area of the Saudi capital, according to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, citing the Saudi fire service. Ten of those killed were from Naogaon district in northern Bangladesh, while the remaining victims were from Natore and Rajshahi.

The cause of the fire has not been made public, nor was it immediately clear whether other workers were injured or what safety measures were in place at the factory.

For rights groups that have long documented the conditions faced by migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, that lack of information is itself part of a wider problem.

"The absence of transparency and free journalism makes it extremely difficult to establish what happened and whether adequate safety measures were in place," Nadyeen Abdulaziz, Monitoring and Advocacy Officer at Saudi human rights organisation ALQST, told The New Arab. "Yet it bears the hallmarks of the well-known risks faced by migrant workers in Saudi Arabia."

Abdulaziz pointed to unsafe working conditions and inadequate protections as persistent problems for migrant workers in the kingdom.

"Unsafe working conditions and inadequate safety protections mean that workers, including those in factories, continue to face avoidable workplace injuries and deaths, while restrictions on workers’ ability to organise and speak out make it even harder to challenge these risks," she said.

Families await return of victims

In Bangladesh, authorities were working to identify the victims and return their remains to their families.

"Such untimely and tragic deaths of expatriates working in distant Saudi Arabia in search of livelihood are very heartbreaking. Their contribution to the country’s economy is immense," Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ariful Haque Chowdhury said in a statement.

Chowdhury directed officials to expedite the repatriation of the victims’ remains and ensure financial and other government support for their families.

The Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh said it had been in contact with Saudi authorities around the clock and that a delegation travelled to the scene after receiving news of the fire.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said it was closely monitoring developments and providing assistance, adding that the victims were being identified and their remains would be returned in accordance with their families’ wishes.

The New Arab approached Bangladesh’s embassy in Riyadh for further comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Millions of Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the biggest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers, with around 3.5 million Bangladeshis living and working in the kingdom. Many are employed in low-skilled and labour-intensive sectors, including construction, manufacturing and domestic work.

The money they send home is crucial. Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia sent more than $2.7 billion in remittances last year, providing vital support to the country’s economy and foreign exchange reserves.

But the economic importance of that migration has long existed alongside concerns about the conditions workers encounter after arriving in the kingdom.

Rights groups have documented unsafe working conditions, unethical recruitment practices, low and discriminatory wages and unsuitable or overcrowded accommodation. They have called on both Bangladesh and destination countries such as Saudi Arabia to strengthen protections and ensure workers can seek compensation when their rights are violated.

Saudi Arabia has previously announced reforms to its controversial kafala sponsorship system, under which migrant workers have historically been tied to their employers, describing the changes as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 programme.

Activists say those reforms have not removed many of the vulnerabilities facing migrant workers.

Saudi employers reportedly retain significant power over workers’ employment status, including the ability to revoke or refuse to renew work permits and file so-called "absconding" reports, potentially leaving workers classified as irregular migrants and vulnerable to detention and deportation.

Rights groups have also documented cases of migrants being arbitrarily detained in inhumane conditions and subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.