Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Jordan.htm
Jordan is a
destination and transit country for women and men from South and Southeast Asia
for the purpose of forced labor. There were some reports of women from
Morocco and Tunisia being subjected to forced prostitution after arriving in
Jordan to work in restaurants and night clubs. Women from Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines migrate willingly to work as domestic
servants, but some are subjected to conditions of forced labor, including
unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, non-payment of
wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. During the reporting period,
the Government of the Philippines continued to enforce a ban on new Filipina
workers migrating to Jordan for domestic work because of a high rate of abuse
of Filipina domestic workers by employers in Jordan. At the end of the
reporting period, an estimated 600 Filipina, Indonesian, and Sri Lankan
foreign domestic workers were sheltered at their respective embassies in
Amman; most of whom fled some form of forced labor. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links have
been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you like
to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Embassies urge greater
policing of agencies that traffic migrant workers www.friends-partners.org/partners/stop-traffic/1999/1496.html [accessed 16
February 2011] Since 1996, the
Philippine government limits employment of nationals within ***
ARCHIVES *** 14 human
trafficking cases confirmed in Jordan since the start of 2020 Roya News, 26
November 2020 [Long
URL] [accessed 27
November 2020] Since the beginning
of this year, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit has confirmed 14 human
trafficking cases in Jordan ... Hamaydeh added that most of
the human trafficking victims were domestic workers. Many of the cases
dealt with are sexual exploitation, organ removal, and forced labor. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Jordan U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/jordan/
[accessed 13 June
13, 2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR A 2019 study by the
Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women found that female Bangladeshi
garment workers in the country suffered physical, verbal, and psychological
abuse and were provided crowded, bedbug-infested living conditions and
unsanitary food. Forced labor or conditions indicative of forced labor also
occurred among migrant workers in the domestic work and agricultural sectors.
Activists highlighted the vulnerability of agricultural workers due to
minimal government oversight. Activists also identified domestic workers,
most of whom were foreign workers, as particularly vulnerable to exploitation
due to inadequate government oversight, social norms that excused forced
labor, and workers’ isolation within individual homes. Activists further
noted cases where domestic workers who used an employer’s phone to complain
to a Ministry of Labor hotline sometimes experienced retaliation when the
hotline returned the call to their employers. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Children continue
to be engaged in the worst forms of child labor, including street work and
dangerous tasks in agriculture. Despite government measures, Syrian children
still face barriers to education due to socioeconomic pressures, bullying,
and costs associated with transportation and supplies. Refugee children
worked in the informal sector, sold goods in the streets, worked in the
agricultural sector, and begged in urban areas. In 2019 NGOs reported that
when government inspectors withdrew Syrian refugee children from child labor,
inspectors often took the children to the Azraq
refugee camp, even when their families lived in distant urban centers or the Za’atari refugee camp, separating families for days,
weeks, or months. NGOs report the reception center has since been shut down
and they are aware of a very small number of cases of refugee children
engaged in child labor still being sent to Azraq
camp. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/jordan/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 8 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Migrant workers are
especially vulnerable to exploitative labor practices. Labor rights
organizations have raised concerns about poor working conditions, forced
labor, and sexual abuse in Qualifying Industrial Zones, where mostly female
and foreign factory workers process goods for export. Rules governing matters
such as the minimum wage, working hours, and safety standards are not well
enforced, particularly in certain sectors like agriculture and construction,
and among migrant workers. The influx of Syrian refugees has exacerbated the
situation by expanding the pool of laborers willing to work in the informal
sector for low wages. According to official data from 2016, the number of child
laborers in the country had doubled since 2007. 2017 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2018 www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf [accessed 18 April
2019] www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 30 April
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 552] Children in Jordan
engage in the worst forms of child labor, including in street work and other
hazardous activities in the service sector. (1; 2; 3; 4) Children also
perform dangerous tasks in agriculture. (5; 6; 7) Based on the 2016 National
Child Labor Survey, approximately 70,000 children ages 5 to 17 are engaged in
child labor, most commonly in agriculture and retail trade. Approximately 80
percent of child laborers are Jordanian and about 15 percent are Syrian. (6)
Boys constitute nearly 90 percent of those involved in child labor. (6). Investigate Human
Trafficking in Jordan, Send Home the Victims Before Christmas Janess Ann J. Ellao,
Bulatlat.com, [accessed 16
February 2011] Sometime in May
2009, Nheljean said they got a phone call from her sister, telling them her
employer was beating her up and had even pointed a gun at her. She ran away
and was taken under custody of her recruitment agency in But the harsh
conditions she had to live with in the custody of the recruitment agency, for
instance the insufficient food and chance to change her clothes, even, had
pushed her to escape from its custody. Jean reportedly escaped by sliding
down a pipe from the fifth floor of her agency’s building. This time, she
went to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office – Overseas Workers Welfare
Association office to seek help. Jean wanted to go home. Going home,
however, is easier said than done. Upon arriving at POLO-OWWA office in Hearing ::
Combating Trafficking for Forced Labor Purposes in the OSCE Region www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewTranscript&ContentRecord _id=397&ContentType=H,B&ContentRecordType=H&CFID=18849146&CFTOKEN=53 [accessed 7
September 2011] 2001-2009.state.gov/g/tip/rls/rm/07/93496.htm [accessed 19
September 2016] For example, a
contract labor agency in Bangladesh advertised work at a garment factory in
Jordan. The ad promised a 3-year contract, $425 per month, 8 hour
workdays, 6 days a week, paid overtime, free accommodations, free
medical care, free food, and no advance fees. Instead, upon arrival, workers
(who were obliged to pay exorbitant advance fees) had passports confiscated,
were confined to miserable conditions, and were prevented from leaving the
factory. Months passed without pay, food was inadequate, and sick workers
were tortured. Because most workers had borrowed money at inflated rates to
get the contracts, they were obliged through debt to stay. The sad truth is
that we find workers across the globe holding on to the thin hope that they
will eventually get paid, or that conditions will improve, because if they
leave, there is no hope that they will be able to repay the debt. Commercial
sexual exploitation of children - Middle East/North Africa region based on the situation
analysis written by Dr Najat M’jid for the Arab-African Forum against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation, www.unicef.org/events/yokohama/backgound8.html [accessed 16
February 2011] [accessed 30 April
2020] FORM AND PREVALENCE
OF CSEC IN THE REGION
- Early marriage is common in some of the countries of the region. This
practice is considered to increase children’s vulnerability to CSEC because
it legitimizes early sexual activity. Between 1995 and 2000, a United Nations
Population Fund report on young married women between the ages of 15 and 19
showed that, of this age group … in Jordan 9 per cent of girls aged 15-19 are
married (legal age of marriage is 17 Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women - Jordan www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Jordan.php [accessed 16
February 2011] ORGANIZED AND
INSTITUTIONALIZED SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND VIOLENCE CASE - Rania Arafat,
21, was shot four times in the back of the head by her 17-year-old brother for
refusing an arranged marriage to her cousin and eloping with her boyfriend,
and thereby bringing shame on the family. ("Dishonor, Then Death,"
World Press Review, February 1998). Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [DOC] UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, September 29, 2006 www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/68a6439ed0f8e956c1257259004be2f2/$FILE/G0645032.doc [accessed 16
February 2011] [92] The Committee regrets
the lack of data on the extent and magnitude of commercial sexual
exploitation of children and trafficking in children for exploitative
purposes in the State party. It also regrets the insufficient legal
protection of boys below the age of 18 against commercial sexual exploitation
and the absence of a specific legal framework to protect children from
trafficking. [86] While noting the
high number of migrant workers in the State party, and particularly the
estimated number of undocumented
workers and the weak protection against exploitation and abuse provided to
them, the Committee is concerned at the situation and vulnerability of their
children residing in Jordan. [88] The Committee
commends the State party for its cooperation with ILO/IPEC, including for
signing the Memorandum of Understanding with ILO for the implementation of
IPEC Country Programme. It welcomes the various measures taken to address the
issue of child labour in Jordan, including the 2002 amendment of the Labour
Code provision on the minimum age for employment of children working in
hazardous occupations which raised the minimum age to 18 years. Despite these
positive measures, the Committee remains concerned about the prevalence of
child labour in the State party. It notes with particular concern information
that the employment of children has steadily grown in recent years,
especially in agriculture. The Committee is further concerned that the
protection provided by the Labour Code does not apply for children working in
the informal sector (for example, in small family enterprises, agriculture
and domestic labour). The Protection
Project - Jordan The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/jordan.doc [accessed 2009] www.protectionproject.org/country-reports/ [accessed 13
February 2019] A Human Rights
Report on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children FORMS OF TRAFFICKING
- The purpose
of trafficking in Jordan is primarily for forced labor. It has been noted
that young children arrive in Jordan to work as maids. There are reportedly
thousands of female migrant workers in Jordan, some laboring under forced and
abusive conditions. Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/jordan [accessed 16
February 2011] ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights Reports
» 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61691.htm [accessed 9 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The law prohibits trafficking in children; however, it does not
specifically prohibit trafficking in other persons. Other criminal statutes
prohibit slavery and indentured servitude. In October Western media reported
the August 2004 killing of 12 Nepali migrant workers in In 2004 to reduce the
potential for abuse of foreign domestic workers (FDWs), the government
adopted new and stricter procedures that regulate the importation of such
labor (see section 6.e.). While these changes improved the legal framework to
protect FDWs, lack of awareness among employers and employees remained a
problem. The government has undertaken a cooperative program with the UN
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to raise the awareness of FDWs on the new
protections afforded them. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) regularly visits the
employment agencies that hire and import FDWs to ensure compliance with the
law. The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/jordan.htm [accessed 16
February 2011] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor CHILD
LABOR LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT - Compulsory labor is prohibited by the Constitution of
Jordan. While the law does not
specifically prohibit forced or bonded labor by children, such practices are
not known to occur. A Jordanian law
specifically prohibits trafficking in children, and there is no indication
that children were trafficked, to, from, or within the country. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
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