A rogue contracting company which refused to pay its 50 Asian employees for eight months has finally been shut down. The labor office took the action after hearing the employees were forced to live in a dilapidated building without running water or electricity. The Director of Labor Office, Abdul Qadir Al-Ghamdi, said that the contracting company has been reported to the Ministry of Labor. “We're waiting for orders to be issued so we can arrest the owner of the company. The Ministry takes firm action against anyone who manipulates laws and tries to do harm to this country and its guests,” he said, according to a report in Al-Madina newspaper. The Asian expatriates who hail from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India complained that the company didn't pay them and refused to allow them to travel to their country or transfer their sponsorship. The men's accommodation lease runs out at the end of the month and they are now terrified they will be forced to live rough. National Society for Human Rights spokesman Matooq Al-Sharif has urged the Labor Office to take strict measures against the shady company to ensure that nothing like this happens again. “This is not just a humanitarian case. If these expatriates stay like this longer, they might resort to doing things that threaten the security situation,” Al-Sharif said.
