Amazon pays $1.9m to exploited workers in Saudi Arabia

Payments come after Guardian and other media partners expose labor abuses against migrants including paying recruitment fees

Amazon has paid $1.9m to hundreds of current and former workers in the wake of revelations by the Guardian and other media partners about abuses against migrants who labored at the online retail giant's warehouses in Saudi Arabia.

Amazon said in a statement that it paid reimbursements to more than 700 migrant workers who had been required to pay recruitment fees and other costs to secure work at the company's distribution centers in Saudi Arabia. In announcing this action, the company said it's committed to fundamental human rights and the dignity of people connected to our business around the world". Amazon said last fall that it employed nearly 1,500 permanent and seasonal workers in Saudi Arabia.