"ILO to examine labour complaint against Saudi Arabia,"

A complaint accusing Saudi Arabia of abusing migrant workers has been deemed admissable by the UN labour agency, it said Thursday, amid fears that abuse could swell as the country prepares to host the 2034 World Cup.

Last June, the Building and Wood Workers' International union filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization on behalf of 21,000 alleged victims of "severe human rights abuses" and wage theft in Saudi Arabia...

The ILO's governing body had determined last November that the complaint was "receivable", agency chief Gilbert Houngbo told reporters...

Houngbo refused to discuss the substance of the case, but said that statements made by Saudi Arabia to the governing body and in bilateral conversations about the issue had been "very constructive".

"The authorities have told me that they really want to work with ILO," he said, and if "deficits" are found, they had said "they are ready to work and correct them".

But, he stressed, "the proof is in the pudding".

Saudi Arabia will respond and then a committee will examine the complaint, the ILO said, but "for the moment no date can be given"...