
A clip of a foreign worker being attacked by a customer in Saudi Arabia has sparked debate on social media regarding the treatment of migrant labor in the country.
The short video, which has been shared widely over the weekend, shows the petrol pump operator going to the window of a car to receive payment. Finding the window shut, he knocks several times, before attempting to open the door. The driver then proceeds to get out and hit the man, who has been identified as a foreign worker, including with a stick.
Some have expressed support for the driver, suggesting it was not appropriate for the worker to attempt to enter the car. One Youtube commenter Lina Lili wrote “Poor thing, but he shouldn’t have opened the door, that is also not allowed, as it seems as if his wife was in the car.”
A Twitter user wrote:
He deserves it for opening the door and seeing the wife [of the customer]. He should just take the bill and shut up.
However, many others have condemned the violence, replying to this tweeter:
I swear, it’s just because he’s a powerless [foreign] worker. If he was Saudi, [the driver] couldn’t do that. Don’t get involved in the intentions of another human being, and broaden your mind from this silliness that you have said.”
Whatever happened, he shouldn’t be allowed to hit him because he is a powerless [foreign] worker. If he was Saudi, no one would be stronger than him, and he would have crushed him in the dirt.
He tried to make himself look like a man in front of his wife, at the expense of a poor worker. If [the worker] was Saudi, he would not have done this action.
The CCTV extract even made it to elsewhere in the Arab world, where it was shared by Iraqi pages:
He’s an animal regardless of his nationality. If he was Iraqi he would still be an animal because someone who makes himself strong against someone weak does not even deserve to be called an animal.
Around 30 percent of the Saudi workforce come from abroad, and workers from India and southeast Asia often face discrimination and harsh treatment in the country. In a recent incident, an immigrant worker was mocked on social media after a picture of him staring longingly at a gold shop was shared. He later received thousands of expressions of support, as well as material gifts, from Saudis.
Source: albawaba
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