Saudi Prince Mishaal bin Khalid al-Saud — who controls more than 200 McDonald’s outlets across Saudi Arabia — told CEO Magazine in 2018 that one of the secrets of his enterprise’s success is “ensuring a positive and favorable environment for our employees.”

Though current and former workers say independent employment agents in their home countries across Asia coerced them into paying exorbitant recruiting fees, while labor contractors and workplace supervisors in Saudi Arabia and other destination countries subjected them to abuses that included confiscating their passports and limiting their freedom to leave their jobs, a joint investigation by global media partners has found.

These practices are widely identified as indicators of labor trafficking, which is defined by the United States and the United Nations as using force, coercion or fraud to exploit workers.