Fosir Mia moved to Saudi Arabia thinking he would earn a handsome salary as an electrician, only to find himself hauling steel rods in harsh desert heat for paltry pay.
After 13-hour shifts at a construction site outside Riyadh, the Bangladeshi national would return to the room he shared with 11 other workers, then fight for a turn at the gas stove so he could make dinner before repeating the routine the next day.
Now back home, the 35-year-old says he was never paid for seven of his 17 months in the Gulf kingdom. He warns that a pending construction boom — for stadiums for the 2034 World Cup and other large-scale projects — could expose others to similar exploitation.
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