No Protection, No Justice: 270 Kenyan Women Dead in Saudi Arabia

Together for Justice is deeply concerned by the shocking reports recently published by The New York Times exposing the widespread and systematic abuse suffered by domestic workers from Kenya and Uganda in Saudi Arabia, in complete absence of any legal or institutional protection from the Saudi authorities.

The investigation reveals a disturbing pattern of exploitation rooted in a state-regulated recruitment system that appears to operate as a cross-border human trafficking network. Thousands of women are lured from East Africa with false promises of decent wages and working conditions, only to find themselves subjected to forced labour, violence, and dehumanising treatment once inside the Kingdom.

Over 274 Kenyan women have died in Saudi Arabia over the past five years, with 55 deaths reported in just the last year alone. Autopsies and witness accounts point to beatings, starvation, sexual assault, and suspicious “accidental” deaths—yet Saudi authorities routinely classify such deaths as “natural” and fail to investigate.

Women are stripped of their passports, forced to work in harsh conditions for little to no pay, and often told by their employers: “I bought you.” Many return home in coffins, with shattered bodies or broken spirits, while their families are left to navigate a maze of bureaucracy and silence.

Together for Justice strongly condemns this modern-day slavery and holds the Saudi government fully responsible for the suffering and deaths of migrant workers on its soil. As the host country, Saudi Arabia bears the primary legal and moral duty to ensure the safety and dignity of all workers within its borders.

We also denounce the silence and complicity of East African governments that continue to facilitate labour export despite mounting evidence of abuse. Alarmingly, several government officials and their families have financial stakes in recruitment agencies profiting from this suffering. In Saudi Arabia, members of the royal family and senior officials are also heavily invested in such agencies.

We further condemn the global companies and institutions that continue to do business with Saudi Arabia without regard to its horrendous human rights record—particularly the treatment of migrant workers.

Together for Justice calls on the international community and all relevant human rights organisations to:

• Launch an independent international investigation into the deaths and abuse of East African domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.
• Monitor and regulate recruitment agencies involved in trafficking and abuse.
• Pressure Saudi Arabia to dismantle the kafala (sponsorship) system and enact comprehensive legal protections for migrant workers.
• Urge East African governments to suspend labour export to Saudi Arabia until enforceable worker protection agreements are in place.
• Demand that global businesses reassess their partnerships with Saudi Arabia in light of its human rights violations.

It is time to end the impunity. Human dignity must not be sacrificed for profit, and no one should be treated as property in the name of employment.