Migrant labor has built much of modern Saudi Arabia, with foreign workers accounting for nearly 39 percent of the country’s population. Drawn by opportunities tied to the Kingdom’s economic expansion and its ambitious Vision 2030 plan, millions of foreign nationals arrive with the hope of escaping hardship at home and finding prosperity in Saudi Arabia. Yet these aspirations collide with a harsh reality where migrants are frequently targeted in harsh crackdowns. Between 10 and 16 July 2025 alone, Saudi authorities arrested 23,000 individuals, mostly from Ethiopia and Yemen, for alleged violations of residency, labor, and border regulations. Many now face the same grim fate as those detained before them: indefinite confinement in degrading conditions while awaiting deportation.
These large-scale migrant arrests often omit due process. Detainees are rarely informed of the reasons for their detention or the length of their imprisonment, nor are they given the opportunity to challenge their convictions in court. Such prolonged detention without judicial review amounts to arbitrary detention, a practice explicitly prohibited under international law. In some cases, migrants report that the only apparent means for release is bribery, with police allegedly assuring freedom in exchange for payment.
Once arrested, migrants are confined in appalling conditions, with their smartphones immediately confiscated to prevent them from documenting or communicating the realities of their detention. According to Human Rights Watch, detainees in at least ten Saudi deportation centers report extreme overcrowding, with cells meant for 60 people packed with up to 400. Additionally, basic necessities like mattresses are denied, and migrants are forced to sleep on dirty blankets or on top of each other in unhygienic facilities littered with waste. Detainees are also deprived of adequate food, clean water, and healthcare, while even the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and children, are forced to endure the same degrading conditions.
The harsh conditions in the deportation centers have inflicted serious health concerns. Detainees report the spread of illnesses such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, which go largely untreated as requests for medical care are often ignored, or, in some cases, met with beatings. Moreover, vulnerable groups, including the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions, receive no special protections, leaving them at heightened risks of severe ailment and death.
Allegations of abuse in Saudi detention centers extend beyond neglect, encompassing mistreatment that in many cases amounts to torture. Migrants have described experiencing verbal abuse, including racial slurs and threats, alongside gender-based violence and brutal beatings that can result in psychological trauma, serious injury, or death. Between April 2021 and May 2022, at least ten Ethiopian detainees reportedly died in custody from untreated health issues linked to torture and medical negligence. To date, there is no indication that Saudi authorities have investigated these cases or held any officials accountable. Under international law, Saudi Arabia is bound to the United Nation’s Convention Against Torture which prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under all circumstances. The documented conditions in these detention centers stand in direct violation of that commitment. To align its practices with international standards, Saudi Arabia must ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which guarantees the independent monitoring of detention facilities.
Despite Saudi authorities’ public acknowledgements of troubling reports, little evidence suggests that conditions inside migrant detention centers have improved. As arrests and deportations intensify, the Kingdom must assure that its efforts to enforce its immigration laws do not undermine fundamental human rights; all arrests must follow due process, and detention centers must be reformed to meet international standards. This includes carrying out thorough investigations into reported abuses and holding perpetrators accountable in order to end the cycle of impunity.