{"id":762441,"date":"2024-11-04T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=762441"},"modified":"2024-11-05T09:34:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T09:34:07","slug":"uk-architects-in-the-spotlight-amid-reports-of-21000-saudi-worker-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/uk-architects-in-the-spotlight-amid-reports-of-21000-saudi-worker-deaths","title":{"rendered":"UK architects in the spotlight amid reports of 21,000 Saudi worker deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to an ITV documentary aired last Sunday (27 October), Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia<\/em><\/a>, an estimated 21,000 workers from Nepal, India and Bangladesh have lost their lives since 2016 working on Saudi\u2019s so-called \u2018giga projects\u2019.<\/p>\n

Projects that make up Saudi 2030 Vision include NEOM and the Line<\/a>, the country\u2019s flagship scheme, as well as developments in the second biggest Saudi city, Jeddah, and preparations for the 2034 World Cup, which FIFA is set to award to the country next month.<\/p>\n

In a statement to the AJ, human-rights charity Amnesty International<\/a> said it was \u2018vital that architecture firms considering operating in Saudi Arabia are doing proper due diligence to ensure they\u2019re not contributing to labour exploitation and other human rights abuses\u2019.<\/p>\n

The organisation\u2019s head of labour rights and sport, Steve Cockburn, said the enormity of the Saudi 2030 Vision projects meant they would \u2018inevitably rely on a huge workforce of migrant workers who face significant risks of exploitation and even death\u2019.<\/p>\n

Baker-Brown, an RIBA councillor, architect, academic, and runner-up in this year\u2019s RIBA presidential election<\/a>, wrote on LinkedIn: \u2018To all the RIBA\u00a0members working on this project, could you please tell me what it will take for you to resign from this project or tell me why this article is not true.\u2019<\/p>\n

In the ITV documentary, workers testified about 16-hour work days and poor working conditions on The Line, a 170km-long linear city, which reportedly has a 140,000-strong migrant workforce.<\/p>\n

The programme, which did not make direct links between specific schemes and worker deaths, also cited a doubling of executions in the country since 2015, under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the figurehead of Saudi’s pivot to development.<\/p>\n

It is understood that five people have so far been given death sentences for refusing to leave their homes to make way for The Line, and that 50 people had been arrested for similar reasons.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the United Nations said it was alarmed at the \u2018risk of execution\u2019 of tribe members it claimed had been arrested for opposing The Line\u2019s construction. Human rights organisation ALQST<\/a> said at least one person, Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, has been killed for protesting against the displacement of tribal villages for NEOM in 2020.<\/p>\n

In May, Heatherwick Studio founder Thomas Heatherwick and RIBA vice-president Valerie Vaughan-Dick\u00a0defended appearing<\/a> at a UK-Saudi trade show advertising work on The Line and NEOM after the BBC published claims<\/a> that Saudi authorities had issued a \u2018kill order\u2019 in 2020 for clearing land in al-Khuraybah to make way for The Line.<\/p>\n

The AJ contacted Heatherwick Studio for comment over the latest reporting but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n

The RIBA said the latest reports of worker death were \u2018serious and concerning\u2019 and referred to the institution\u2019s Code of Professional Conduct and Code of Practice about architects\u2019 impact on the environment and society.<\/p>\n

Chapter 14 of the RIBA code states that \u2018members shall have proper concern and due regard for the effect that their professional activities and completed projects may have on users, the local community and society\u2019.<\/p>\n

The RIBA added: \u2018We wholly agree that practices working internationally should ensure that they are upholding universal principles on human rights, labour, and anti-corruption within their projects and through their supply chains.<\/p>\n

\u2018RIBA exists to promote the highest standards in the built environment \u2013 to champion architecture and support the transfer of knowledge and skills worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wherever our members are working, our Code of Professional Conduct and Code of Practice outline core member responsibilities, including considering the impact of any professional activity on the environment and society.\u2019<\/p>\n

RIBA president-elect Chris Williamson, co-founder of WW+P, which has worked on the rail link within the Line project, told the AJ that the allegations made by ITV were \u2018extremely serious\u2019.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018I would like to see [the issues] investigated further because all RIBA members, wherever they work, are required to uphold universal principles on human rights and working conditions within their projects and throughout their supply chains.\u2019<\/p>\n

The AJ has reported<\/a> on the names of dozens of other UK architecture firms involved in the Saudi 2030 Vision. They includes Foster + Partners’ role on a 2km-tall tower<\/a>, at least one Red Sea resort and a new major airport. However, the practice did not comment when asked about the ITV report.<\/p>\n

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is reportedly working in the country on a 330m-tall tower as part of the Trojena ski resort. The practice did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Populous, which is behind designs for around a quarter of the dozen stadiums<\/a> for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, declined to comment when approached by the AJ. And AtkinsRealis<\/a>, which is behind a 400-tall cube skyscraper in Riyadh, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

NEOM told ITV: \u2018We are assessing the claims made in this programme, and where required, will take appropriate action. We require all contractors and subcontractors to comply with NEOM\u2019s Code of Conduct, based on the laws of Saudi Arabia and the policies of the International Labour Organization, and they are subject to frequent inspections of their workers’ living and working conditions.\u2019<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabian press<\/a> have also reported that the country\u2019s National Council for Occupational Safety had \u2018strongly refuted claims\u2019 suggesting a rise in worker fatalities due to poor working conditions in the country.<\/p>\n

According to a statement<\/a> issued on Friday, and reported by the Saudi Gazette<\/a><\/em>, the council confirmed that Saudi Arabia\u2019s work-related fatality rate stood at 1.12 per 100,000 workers, claiming it was one of the lowest rates globally.<\/p>\n

\n

Comment<\/h3>\n

Charlie Edmonds, Future Architects Front<\/strong><\/p>\n

The trafficking, forced labour and deaths of construction workers are not unprecedented considerations for architects to make. In 2014, Zaha Hadid claimed \u2018I have nothing to do with the workers\u2019 when asked about the deaths of migrants involved in her office’s Al Wakrah stadium in Qatar. Ten years later, ZHA, now led by Patrik Schumacher, along with numerous other architecture practices, is contributing to NEOM: a development project with comparable working conditions.<\/p>\n

It has been over two years since three members of the Huwaitat tribe were sentenced to death for protesting the construction of The Line on their ancestral land. In this context, architects working on NEOM cannot claim ignorance and must be considered complicit.<\/p>\n

Many architects have made efforts to defend working on these projects. A recent example was attempted by RIBA president-Elect Chris Williamson<\/a>. But it is long overdue for the wider profession to reject hollow deflections and work towards holding complicit firms accountable.<\/p>\n

For the architecture profession to retain any shred of credibility, our institutions must boycott and sever ties with the practices that continue their involvement in NEOM. They must not be welcome in universities, they must not be considered for awards, and they must be made to understand that the violation of human rights anywhere in the world will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n

In the same way that the\u00a0Finch vs Surrey County Council Case<\/a>\u00a0demonstrated the necessity to assess ecological impacts throughout entire supply chains, architects must embrace and build upon initiatives like the BDS Movement when accepting work or procuring services.<\/p>\n

Without concerted action, the profession risks further enabling modern slavery, state-sanctioned murder and crimes against humanity. And for what?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to an ITV documentary aired last Sunday (27 October), Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia, an estimated 21,000 workers from Nepal, India and Bangladesh have lost their lives since 2016 working on Saudi\u2019s so-called \u2018giga projects\u2019. Projects that make up Saudi 2030 Vision include NEOM and the Line, the country\u2019s flagship scheme, as well as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131789,"featured_media":732654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[1181,1270,4977,1504,101136,99847],"yoast_head":"\nUK architects in the spotlight amid reports of 21,000 Saudi worker deaths<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amnesty International and architect Duncan Baker-Brown have questioned architects\u2019 involvement in Saudi Arabia amid reports that 21,000 people have died working on some of the country\u2019s biggest projects\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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