By John Q. Hosedrinker 
A new documentary has revealed that over 21,000 workers from India, Bangladesh, and Nepal have died since 2017 while working on Saudi Arabia’s multi-trillion dollar Saudi Vision 2030 programme, which includes the NEOM project and the Line. The programme has also seen allegations of wage theft, illegal working hours, human rights abuses, and the forced removal of over 20,000 indigenous people. The documentary follows a report by the Wall Street Journal alleging corruption, racism, Islamophobia, and misogyny among the project’s senior executives. Despite some architecture companies leaving NEOM due to human rights concerns, others including BIG, Zaha Hadid Architects, and OMA remain involved. Over 100,000 people have also reportedly “disappeared” during the construction of NEOM.
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The recent documentary revealing that 21,000 laborers have died working on Saudi Vision 2030, particularly on the NEOM project, is a staggering indictment of the system behind these colossal developments. The sheer volume of lives lost raises an unsettling realization: this isn’t just about numbers; these are human beings who believed in the promise of a better life, only to suffer horrific fates in the blistering heat of the Saudi desert. The statistic resonates; it’s an average of around 50 lives a week. At some point, one has to wonder: how can anyone possibly think that this is acceptable?
The conditions under which these workers toil are nothing short of barbaric. Reports of workers being treated like cattle, with their passports confiscated to ensure they cannot flee, paint a bleak picture of modern slavery. Workers arrive filled with hope, often from impoverished countries, lured by the promise of wages that would allow them to support their families back home. When they land, they face an entirely different reality—grueling hours, substandard living conditions, and in many instances, pay that barely sustains them. When a system is set up to exploit such desperation, is it surprising that people suffer and die in droves?
NEOM itself is branded as a groundbreaking vision of the future, yet it feels disingenuous when we acknowledge the cost at which it comes. It’s easy to marvel at futuristic concepts and grandiose plans, but behind every eye-catching design is a story that reeks of exploitation. It’s as if the project is less about building a sustainable city and more about building a monument to vanity and power, devoid of any ethical considerations. Seeing skyscrapers rise in the middle of what has become a graveyard for workers puts everything into perspective: we are witnessing the obliteration of human dignity in the pursuit of luxury and spectacle.
Digging deeper, it’s hard to overlook the irony: a vision of modernity being constructed on the backs of laborers subjected to conditions reminiscent of ancient practices. The negligent attitude towards safety and well-being illustrates a complete disregard for life. What’s even more staggering is the acknowledgment that these deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. It raises the question: how many casualties have gone unreported? How many workers die unseen, unheard, and unaccounted for?
The way these workers’ lives have been commodified is a chilling reminder of the direction in which some economies are willing to head. When mortality becomes just a number—a factor in a spreadsheet—it reflects an economic model that prizes profits over people. Money is being funneled into projects, and instead of being invested in the safety and livelihood of workers, it seems to vanish into the coffers of those already wealthy. Watching this unfold leaves one feeling a mixture of anger and despair; how can we, as a global society, sit idly by while such atrocities occur under the flag of development?
The willingness of Western powers to turn a blind eye to these injustices because of lucrative partnerships with such regimes is equally abhorrent. It often seems as though human rights take a backseat to economic interests. The powerful protect their investments while the vulnerable pay the ultimate price. It’s a betrayal that transcends borders, and it needs to be confronted with urgency. Meanwhile, Saudi leaders wave these massive projects around like trophies, blind to the human carnage that underlies their shiny façades.
In the grand scheme of things, what do 21,000 lives mean to those in power? It’s disheartening to think that for those orchestrating such developments, laborers are but replaceable cogs in a grand machine. The sincerity of their aspirations for a modern city is overshadowed by the appalling cost of those dreams. These people encompass everything from fathers to sons, all hoping for a brighter future that ultimately ends in tragedy. Their sacrifice is palpable, yet the indifference is deafening.
The documentary is a crucial reminder that it is easy to get swept up in the spectacle of grand designs, but we must remember the human beings behind the projections, the foundation of flesh and bone that carries the weight of these ambitions. Failing to hold power accountable simply perpetuates a cycle of exploitation that many hope to escape. What we need is a collective awakening, a commitment to ensuring that the dream of progress does not come at the cost of humanity itself.