These weren't some American twits who thought they would be "cultured" by moving to SA. “Asian” in this article most likely means Afghan, Bangladeshi or Pakistani.
It was probably more like their only chance to eat without being sold into sex slavery by their own family.
Don’t make fun of it unless you have lived in Saudi. It ain’t no picknick.
Most of the foreign workers live under terrible conditions and cannot return to their country of origin before their “contract” is up and even then they have a hard time leaving the country if they are found to be “essential”. Some have not been paid for months and there is no recourse.
Upon arrival, their employer takes their passport away for safekeeping. It is only returned when they leave the country again.
As for the vile Saudis... those two girls will never survive the lashes, much less the 10 years in prison. Barbaric feral beasts.