AMMAN — The Ministry of
Labor told media outlets this week that the government will not be extending
the grace period for foreign workers to rectify their legal status in the Kingdom.
اضافة اعلان
The news has caused
concern among some of Jordan’s migrant workers, who make up a key proportion of
the workforce in a country where one in 14 people is a refugee, according to
UNHCR reports for 2019.
Sami Raafat, an
Egyptian who has been working in Jordan for
nine years, told
Jordan News in an interview, “I had not renewed my
permit for a year.
Yesterday I went to the
Labor Office and I renewed my
agricultural permit.”
He stated that the cost
of the permit, which has increased in recent years, was one of the reasons he
had not previously renewed his legal status.
Rafaat added that his
agricultural workers permit was renewed at the cost of JD528, which was twice
the 2019 fee, and his construction permit renewal, which had previously cost
him around JD500, amounted to JD980 this year.
In addition to paying
immense fees, migrant workers like Raafat are expected to take the first dose
of the COVID-19 vaccine, show a valid passport and proof of sponsorship, and
undergo health checks, according to Labor Ministry requirements.
Abdulbasit, an
expatriate worker who has been working in Jordan for 15 years in the
agricultural field, told
Jordan News that the pandemic has made his
living conditions worse and led him to return to his country after he had sold
his property.
Hatem Awwad, who has
been working in Jordan in the construction field for six years, said: “The last
two years were the worst
period ever to find a job because of the pandemic.”
He
added that the conditions in which he works are often humiliating, “It hurts me
when someone comes to our gathering place, he asks for construction workers and
the workers crowd around him to take one.
Moreover the construction permit in
2019 was JD500 and now it is JD980."
Awwad added that he had
hoped that his job opportunity would not pass through a guarantor or sponsor, a
person who assists with finding work — often at a high cost to the worker.
In an interview with
Jordan
News, the media spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor, Muhammad Al-Zyoud,
said: “The government has provided extraordinary facilitations to employers in
all sectors and economic activities from July 4 and is set to end (them) on
September 2.
The ministry … exempted migrant workers from permit fees for the
previous years and fines provided that the worker get a new permit.”
Zyoud added: “The
turnout for the renewal of permits was unsatisfactory, but after the ministry's
statement that the period will be July 4 until September 2, and there is no
extension for the specified period or exceptions, then the turnout is
increasing.
This step came in order to organize the labor market and know the
real numbers of workers in the market.”
He emphasized: “After
this sufficient period to correct the conditions of the workers, the ministry
will launch a comprehensive and a strict campaign to deport them to their
countries without return, according to the Labor and Workers Law, explaining
that the number of those with permits reached 60,000, and this is not the
required number.”
Ahmed Awad, director of
the Jordanian Labor watch, spoke to
Jordan News about the issue,
stating: “The government may find itself compelled to extend the period of
correcting the conditions of migrant workers.”
He added that many of the
workers did not go to renew their permits because most of them work day-to-day,
especially in the field of agriculture and construction.
“In addition to the
ineffectiveness of labor market monitoring is the sense that (the workers) can
escape from accountability in their own way.”
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