Human trafficking in Jordan

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Jordan ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in June 2009. [1]

Contents

Jordan is a source, destination, and transit country for adults and children subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser extent, sex trafficking. Women from Southeast Asia and East Africa voluntarily migrate to Jordan for employment among the estimated 50,000 foreign domestic workers in the country; some domestic workers are subjected to forced labor. Many of these workers are unable to return to their home countries due to pending criminal charges against them or due to their inability to pay overstay penalties or plane fare home. Some migrant workers from Egypt - the largest source of foreign labor in Jordan - experience forced labor in the construction, service, and agricultural sectors. Syrians may face forced labor in the agricultural sector, while some refugee children are subjected to the worst forms of child labor. Men and women from throughout Asia migrate to work in factories in Jordan's garment industry where some workers experience forced labor. Jordan's sponsorship system places a significant amount of power in the hands of employers and recruitment agencies, preventing workers from switching employers or receiving adequate access to legal recourse in response to abuse. Some Sri Lankan women engaged in prostitution in the country may be trafficking victims.

The Government of Jordan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During 2015, the government substantially increased efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders, and continued to identify and refer to protection services an increased number of trafficking victims. Authorities also increased referrals of trafficking victims to a government-run shelter for gender-based violence (GBV) victims; as of early 2014, this shelter provided specific care for trafficking victims. Furthermore, in March 2015, the government completed construction of a shelter dedicated exclusively to trafficking victims, and was in the process of equipping and staffing the facility at the end of the reporting period; it was also in the process of drafting a national victim referral mechanism at the end of the reporting period. Though the government improved its law enforcement and victim identification and referral efforts, it did not systematically investigate potential cases of trafficking that involved withholding of passports and wages. Trafficking victims - particularly domestic workers who ran away from abusive employers - continued to face arrest and imprisonment. [2] According to Jordanian laws, domestic workers that leave employers and break their work contracts should be subject to deportation and not imprisonment. There is no article within the residency laws that implies imprisonment as punishment for violating residency or labour regulations. [3] [4]

The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017 [5] and 2023. [6]

In 2023, the Organised Crime Index noted that tighter border control during Covid had reduced cross-border trafficking; however, it also noted that organ trafficking had increased. [7]

Prosecution

The government has significantly increased law enforcement efforts to combat all forms of trafficking, including those involving the most vulnerable populations. The 2009 anti-human trafficking law prohibits all forms of sex and labor trafficking and prescribes penalties of six months’ to 10 years’ imprisonment for child trafficking, trafficking of women and girls, and forced prostitution; these penalties are sufficiently stringent, but not commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Penalties prescribed for labor trafficking offenses are not sufficiently stringent; offenses against adult male victims that do not involve aggravating circumstances are limited to a minimum of six months’ imprisonment and a fine. Jordan's labor law assigns administrative penalties for labor violations committed against Jordanian or foreign workers, yet these penalties are not sufficiently stringent to deter the crime of human trafficking. The withholding of passports is a crime under Jordan's passport law, which prescribes six months’ to three years’ imprisonment, as well as financial penalties.

In 2016, the labour ministry administered misconduct warnings to 27 different domestic worker recruitment agencies and also shut down eight others, after receiving almost 1000 complaints and having to deal with approximately 1,500 runaway cases. That same year, the counter-trafficking unit investigated 30 confirmed human trafficking cases, and also sent 196 victims to shelters, the vast majority of victims being domestic workers. [3] The labour ministry is trying to put measures in place to reduce the amount of illegal domestic workers, of the 100,000 domestic workers in Jordan, around 30,000 are illegal workers according to the Domestic Helpers Recruitment Agencies Association (DHRAA). Many of these workers do not even know that they are considered to be illegal, by leaving their employers due to unsuitable conditions or treatment and not contacting the agency for proper procedures, they infringe upon labour and residency laws. [4]

Protection

The Jordanian government continues to make progress in its efforts to proactively identify and protect trafficking victims. The government identified 121 female and 40 male victims in 2014; this represents an increase from 90 victims identified in the previous reporting period. The government referred 122 potential victims to a government-run shelter for GBV victims, a local NGO-operated shelter, and an international organization; this was a significant increase from 46 victim referrals in 2013. In March 2015, the government completed construction of a shelter solely dedicated to protecting trafficking victims; however, it was not operational and a designated budget was being developed cooperatively between the government and an international organization at the end of the reporting period. The government began development of a national victim referral mechanism; in the interim, it continued to shelter victims at a GBV facility and to refer victims to services. During the reporting period, the joint anti-trafficking unit agreed to regularly refer trafficking victims to a local NGO for legal aid; in December 2014, the unit referred five victims as a result of the agreement. In early 2014, the government officially expanded the mandate of a shelter for GBV victims to formalize its assistance to trafficking victims; it could house up to 50 female victims of violence and offered medical, psycho-social, educational, and legal assistance. The joint anti-trafficking unit referred 31 cases to the shelter during the reporting period and demonstrated professionalism and sensitivity when handling trafficking cases.

In January 2016, plans to establish a shelter for domestic workers was announced by the labour ministry, in hopes to assist in resolving illegal worker issues in Jordan. 300 residents should be able to be accommodated there, as well as be provided with the assistance to resolve their problems, and also to protect them. [4] In October 2016, the Ministries of Health and Labour signed an agreement which allowed for housing inspections in residences of migrant garment workers working in the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ). With this, each year shows improvements to the previous, but several of the 18 QIZ factories still seem to violate human rights. [8] [9]

In 2020, condition violations and abuse of migrant workers in the QIZ factories were still being reported, additional enforcement of the laws and codes drastically need to be implemented in order to help Jordan employers change the way that employees have been treated for so long. [10] The President of the Domestic Helpers Recruitment Agencies Association, Khaled Hseinat, reported in 2020 that increases in domestic worker rentals was directly related to the Ministry of Labour putting a new system into effect, which prevents owners of the recruitment agencies to follow up or hire domestic workers after they have been in Jordan for three months. According to a labour rights lawyer, through the implementation of this three month rule it is making the process for domestic workers shorter when it comes to filing a complaint, since the worker no longer has to go through the agency to do so. [11]

Prevention

The government continued efforts to prevent trafficking. The anti-trafficking committee met twice during the reporting period and its technical committee met 10 times. In April 2014, the anti-trafficking committee published a report documenting Jordan's anti-trafficking efforts from 2010 to 2014. The government continued to distribute anti-trafficking brochures to foreign migrants at border crossings, police stations, airports, and in the garment sector. The government did not report taking measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The government did not provide specific anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported its finance department directly paid locally hired domestic staff of Jordanian diplomats posted abroad, in accordance with labor laws and wage rates in the host country. The government did not provide specific anti-trafficking training for its peacekeepers before their deployment abroad. According to the DHRAA, in 2017 there were 150 licensed recruiting agencies for domestic workers available in Jordan. Also, it was reported that same year, that the labour ministry and anti-trafficking departments had increased the number of inspections on those recruiting agencies in order to immediately detect any violations and take action. [4] In continuing with the efforts from the national anti-human trafficking committee and its various partners, the 2019-2022 anti-human trafficking strategy was announced in April 2019. Together with EU, Jordan plans to implement a strategy covering the prevention, protection, prosecution and cooperation in eliminating human trafficking. The draft also included the establishment of a fund to assist those affected by human trafficking. [12] In March 2019, an amendment to the 2019 Anti-Human Trafficking Law was approved by the Cabinet and which was directly associated to increasing the punishments to those charged of crimes related to human trafficking. [13] In the summer of 2021, Jordans’ Interior Minister Mazen Faraiah and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani signed an agreement for security cooperation in order to combat all forms of crime, specifically in the fields of counterterrorism and human trafficking among others. [14]

See also

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In 2008, Taiwan was primarily a destination for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. It is also a source of women trafficked to Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Women and girls from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and Southeast Asian countries were trafficked to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal smuggling for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Many trafficking victims were workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, employed through recruitment agencies and brokers to perform low skilled work in Taiwan’s construction, fishing, and manufacturing industries, or to work as domestic servants. Such workers were often charged high job placement and service fees, up to $14,000, resulting in substantial debt that labor brokers or employers use as a tool for involuntary servitude. Many foreign workers remained vulnerable to trafficking because legal protections, oversight by authorities and enforcement efforts were inadequate.

According to the United States Department of State, "Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking." Thailand's relative prosperity attracts migrants from neighboring countries who flee conditions of poverty and, in the case of Burma, military repression. Significant illegal migration to Thailand presents traffickers with opportunities to coerce or defraud undocumented migrants into involuntary servitude or sexual exploitation. Police who investigated reaching high-profile authorities also received death threats in 2015.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China is a destination and transit territory for men and women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.

Indonesia is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. The greatest threat of trafficking facing Indonesian men and women is that posed by conditions of forced labor and debt bondage in more developed Asian countries and the Middle East.

Human trafficking in Israel includes the trafficking of men and women into the country for forced labor and sex slavery. The country has made serious efforts to reduce the problem in recent years and now ranks 90th out of 167 countries who provide data. Identification of victims, criminal justice work and efforts to co-ordinate with business and government agencies has been concerted in reducing this problem in the last decade.

Kuwait ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in May 2006.

Lebanon ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2005.

The Bahamas is a destination country for men and some women from Haiti and other Caribbean countries who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor, and, to a lesser extent, women from Jamaica and other countries who are in forced prostitution. Haitian trafficking victims are most likely to migrate to The Bahamas voluntarily, but subsequently be subjected to forced labor in agriculture, domestic service, or forced prostitution. Some employers coerce migrant workers – legal and illegal – to work longer hours, at lower pay, and in conditions not permitted under local labor law by changing the terms of employment contracts, withholding travel documents, refusing transportation back home, threatening to withdraw the employer-specific and employer-held permits, or threatening to have the employee deported through other means. Traffickers reportedly lure Jamaican and other foreign women to the Bahamas with offers of employment in the tourism and entertainment fields and subject the women to forced prostitution after their arrival. The Ministry of Education is investigating allegations that some high school girls in Eleuthera may be involved in a prostitution ring. This report is the only indication that Bahamian citizens may be victims of human trafficking.

Bahrain is a Source and destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Men and women from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Eritrea migrate voluntarily to Bahrain to work as domestic workers or as unskilled laborers in the construction and service industries. Some, however, face conditions of forced labor after arriving in Bahrain, through use of such practices as unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, contract substitution, non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse.

Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. A significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. It also includes the trafficking of children – both boys and girls – within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced labor. Some children are sold into bondage by their parents, while others are induced into labor or commercial sexual exploitation through fraud and physical coercion. Women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked.

In 2009 Qatar was a transit and destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Sudan, Thailand, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and China voluntarily travelled to Qatar as laborers and domestic servants, but some subsequently faced conditions indicative of involuntary servitude. These conditions included threats of serious physical or financial harm; job switching; the withholding of pay; charging workers for benefits for which the employer is responsible; restrictions on freedom of movement, including the confiscation of passports and travel documents and the withholding of exit permits; arbitrary detention; threats of legal action and deportation; false charges; and physical, mental, and sexual abuse. In some cases, arriving migrant workers found that the terms of employment in Qatar were wholly different from those they agreed to in their home countries. Individuals employed as domestic servants were particularly vulnerable to trafficking since they are not covered under the provisions of the labor law. A small number of foreign workers transited Qatar and were forced to work on farms in Saudi Arabia. Qatar was also a destination for women who migrated and became involved in prostitution, but the extent to which these women were subjected to forced prostitution is unknown. Children have been used in Qatar and other Gulf countries as camel jockies. Most children are trafficked from Africa and South Asia. This practice has ceased in most areas though. Workers have been forced to work in bad conditions; their salaries are sometimes withheld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea</span>

In 2009, Papua New Guinea was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men were forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, were most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sold girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage were often forced into domestic servitude for the husband's extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families were prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines were subjected to forced prostitution, and men from China were transported to the country for forced labor.

Oman is a destination and transit country for men and women, primarily from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, some of whom are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions indicative of forced labor. Most of these South and Southeast Asian migrants travel willingly to Oman with the expectation of employment in domestic service or as low-skilled workers in the country's construction, agriculture, or service sectors. Some of them subsequently face conditions indicative of forced labor, such as the withholding of passports and other restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, long working hours without food or rest, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. Labor recruitment agencies and their sub-agents in migrants' original communities in South Asia, as well as labor brokers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and Iran, may deceive workers into accepting work that in some instances constitutes forced labor. Many of these agencies provide false contracts for employment either with fictitious employers or at fictitious wages, charge workers high recruitment fees at high rates of interest, and urge workers to enter Oman on tourist visas. Oman is also a destination and transit country for women from China, India, Morocco, Eastern Europe, and South Asia who may be forced into commercial sexual exploitation, generally by nationals of their own countries. Male Pakistani laborers, and others from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and East Asia, transit Oman en route to the UAE; some of these migrant workers are exploited in situations of forced labor upon reaching their destination.

Iraq ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in February 2009.

Malaysia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in February 2009.

Human trafficking in Brazil is an ongoing problem. Brazil is a source country for men, women, girls, and boys subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution within the country and abroad, as well as a source country for men and boys in forced labor within the country. The United States Department of Homeland Security, describes human trafficking as "the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."

In 2009 Brunei was a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men and women who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Men and women from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China, and Thailand migrated to Brunei for domestic or other low-skilled labor but sometimes faced conditions of involuntary servitude upon arrival. There were over 88,000 migrant workers in Brunei, some of whom faced debt bondage, non-payment of wages, passport confiscation, confinement to the home, and contract switching - factors that may contribute to trafficking. There were credible reports of nationals from South Asian countries subjected to nonpayment of wages and debt bondage in Brunei for up to two years to pay back foreign recruitment agents. Some of the 25,000 female domestic workers in Brunei were required to work exceptionally long hours without being granted a day for rest, creating an environment consistent with involuntary servitude. There are reports of women forced into prostitution in Brunei, and reports that women arrested for prostitution attest to having been victims of trafficking. Brunei is a transit country for trafficking victims in Malaysia, including Filipinas, who are brought to Brunei for work permit re-authorization before being returned to Malaysia.

In 2009 Ethiopia was a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. Girls from Ethiopia's rural areas were forced into domestic servitude and, less frequently, commercial sexual exploitation, while boys were subjected to forced labor in traditional weaving, gold mining, agriculture, herding, and street vending. Small numbers of Ethiopian girls were forced into domestic servitude outside Ethiopia, primarily in Djibouti and Sudan, while Ethiopian boys were subjected to forced labor in Djibouti as shop assistants and errand boys.

References

  1. ↑ United Nations Treaty Collection website, Chapter XVIII Penal Matters section, Section 12a, retrieved August 19, 2024
  2. ↑ "U.S State Report: Jordan 2015". U.S. Department. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  3. 1 2 Su, Alice (2017-03-27). "Migrant domestic workers in Jordan run the gauntlet between abuse and jail". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Stuck in legal limbo, 'runaway' domestic workers seek a way out". Jordan Times. 2017-11-26. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  5. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  6. ↑ US Government website, Trafficking in Persons Report 2023
  7. ↑ Organised Crime Index website, Jordan, retrieved August 19, 2024
  8. ↑ "Migrant workers at factories file complaint, cite safety, rights violations". Jordan Times. 2018-09-13. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  9. ↑ "As Jordan's garment sector grows, activists push for better migrant workers' rights". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  10. ↑ Ibrahim, Noor (2020-08-29). "Sexual assault, forced labor, wage theft: garment workers in Jordan suffer for US brands". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  11. ↑ "Domestic worker recruitment agencies decry hiring practices on social media". Jordan Times. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  12. ↑ "Jordan launches 2019-2022 anti-human trafficking strategy". Jordan Times. 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  13. ↑ "Study calls for tougher action against human trafficking". Jordan Times. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  14. ↑ "Jordan, Qatar sign security cooperation agreement". Jordan Times. 2021-07-04. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
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