Khaberni - Minister of Labor Khaled Al-Bakkar warned of serious information and suspicions indicating that some groups of runaway workers in Jordan might be exploited, escalating to the level of human trafficking, affirming that the relevant authorities will not accept this under any circumstances.
Al-Bakkar stated on Thursday that the last five years have seen nearly 6,000 housemaids flee, a concerning figure for several reasons, the most important being reports to security services and the Ministry's partners in the Ministry of the Interior about the existence of organized groups exploiting these illegal categories and violating their rights, driving them to engage in activities that contravene regulating laws.
He added that the ministry has intensified its handling of the dossier, given the dangers of having such numbers of workers on Jordanian territory illegally and without regularizing their status, pointing out the necessity to follow up on the groups managing and exploiting these workers.
The minister revealed that some violating entities have even gone as far as creating social media pages to promote these runaway workers, offering them for hourly or daily work inside homes, in practices he described as contrary to values, ethics, and goals of the labor market regulation.
Al-Bakkar confirmed that the government measures are part of a comprehensive plan to regulate the labor market, ensuring the protection of citizens, especially the elderly and working women who need domestic workers, emphasizing that protecting these groups' rights requires controlling the labor market and ensuring it operates legally and legitimately.
He mentioned that the information available to the ministry indicates that organized groups use this runaway labor in activities that do not comply with laws, affirming that the security agencies have the capability and professionalism to deal with this phenomenon and the associated groups, as part of a joint plan between the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labor, and the Directorate of Public Security, which includes specialized teams meeting periodically to follow up on the file and contain it.
The minister pointed out that the problem of labor law violations is not limited to housemaids but also includes other sectors such as agriculture and construction, explaining that the danger of these runaway workers lies in their illegal presence and violation of legislation.
Al-Bakkar disclosed that the ministry attempted over the past four months to issue a regulation that organizes the employment of workers legally through ensuring that the worker is under the umbrella of an officially licensed company, and it was supposed to be approved two months ago, but it was decided to wait until a comprehensive system is completed that also addresses the situation of runaway workers.
He noted that some low-income individuals encourage these runaway workers through social media due to their inability to host a worker permanently, resorting to using them on a daily basis only.
Al-Bakkar confirmed that the ministry is currently working on preparing a new system that regulates expatriate labor in homes, giving priority to nationalities with diplomatic representation in the kingdom, adding that Jordan faces difficulty in dealing with runaway workers from nationalities that do not have diplomatic representation.
