The Prosecutor-General’s Office has instituted criminal proceedings against three local employment agencies – Jamol-2012, Imkon-2015 and Abdulkarim – involved in sending workers to Saudi Arabia, where Tajik labor migrants have faced exploitation.
According to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, the mentioned employment agencies have sent several Tajik nationals to Saudi Arabia promising them jobs, but the people they recruited have been involved in forced labor without salaries.
Criminal proceedings have been instituted against them under the provisions of Article 130 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – trafficking in human being; an investigation is under way.
Saudi Arabia is a relatively new labor migration destination for Tajiks and there are no official estimates about the number of Tajik nationals currently working in the kingdom.
Tajik officials say Tajikistan does not have a bilateral agreement on job quotas with Saudi authorities.
Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf Arab countries have long been criticized for failing to protect foreign workers' rights amid widespread reports of abuse.
