Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Migrant Workers Caught Between Employers' Abuse and Poor Implementation of the Law

• In 2011, the number of domestic workers who turned to the Sri Lankan embassy was  around  1,870. The  number  of  domestic  workers  who  turned  to  the Indonesian embassy was around 974 workers. Some of them were subjected to violations by their employers. Others could not bear the working conditions, and refused to continue. Other domestic workers left their working places after finishing the contract period, but they accumulated overstay fines since their exemployers  did  not issue  work  and residence  permits  for  them. The major obstacles  that  stop the domestic  worker from  returning back home  are  the unavailability  of  air  tickets,  the  accumulated overstay fine, and the Police Notification “Absconding Report” which is filed by the employer.

Recruitment and Employment Agencies and the Rights of Employers

• The Ministry of Labor restricted the recruitment and employment of domestic workers to the recruitment agencies. Most of the recruitment and employment agencies treat the domestic workers as a commodity, subjected to loss or profit logic. Unfortunately, some recruitment agencies, authorized by the employers to settle their domestic worker issues, send her to her home country and confiscate the money paid by the employer. Moreover, they exploit the worker and force her to work on a daily basis. However, this poor treatment does not mean that there are not recruitment agencies that take care of the domestic worker through their contractual period as well as raise awareness of both employers and domestic workers about the rights and obligations of each party.
• The  employer  dons  a  heavy  financial  burden  when recruiting  a  domestic worker. The recruitment agencies exaggerate the cost of the domestic worker, sometimes leading to the domestic worker being subjected to forced labor. 

Egyptian Migrant Labor in Jordan

• Egyptian migrant workers make up sixty-eight percent of the migrant labor in Jordan. In 2011, 190,481 Egyptian migrant workers obtained work permits in Jordan. There are 135,000 Egyptian migrant workers without work permits in Jordan.

The Recruitment System: An Environment Fostering Exploitation

• Methods of recruitment have a number of gaps. These gaps allow brokers to earn millions of dinar from trading in contracts, particularly regarding contracts in the agriculture sector. It is easy to obtain work permits in the agriculture sector due to the preferable  conditions  such as permit fees being lower than other sectors.   
• Although Article 12 of the Labor Law states that the employer has to cover the cost of the work permit, the Egyptian workers are the ones who actually cover the price of the work permits. In these cases, the worker covers at least half the value of the work permit. If the employer is slow to obtain the work permit, the worker is unable to receive the money they paid for the insurance bond when they crossed the border into Jordan. 
• If the migrant worker’s work contract has been expired for 90 days and he has not returned to his country, he must obtain a permit to receive social security benefits. The worker who does not have a prior work contract must pay the cost of the work permit retroactively for the whole period of his subscription in social security. This has led to a loss of wages to the social security institution for a large segment of the Egyptian workers. Many employers are slow to return passports to workers after the end of their contracts, citing excuses.
• The cost of one job opportunity for an Egyptian migrant worker coming to Jordan is 849.5 JD, which equals $1200. This amount does not include the money the worker has to pay while he is in Egypt, before he comes to Jordan. The above amounts are what Egyptian migrant workers pay without  the intervention of brokers or the dealers. If a broker interferes, the worker will most likely pay double this amount. This exploitation compels the migrant worker to leave his contracted work and seek higher income. He may also work more than one job and try to work more than eighteen hours a day to earn more money.
• In 2011, 17,365 Egyptian workers had work related accidents. These accidents left these migrant workers with anywhere between ten and eighty percent of their bodily functions permanently crippled. In fact,  twenty percent of these cases resulted in the amputation of workers’ limbs. The number of work related accidents that result in death are 146 per year.
• In Jordan, 41.8% of work-related deaths and injuries occur in the construction sector. This high percentage is followed close behind by the number of work related deaths that occur in the chemical sector due to the workers inhaling and coming into contact with poisonous substances. Inhaling poisonous gases often damages the workers’ bodies so much that 81% of their body does not function properly. 

Migrant Workers in the Agriculture Sector: "Neglected Rights"

• In accordance with the latest amendments to Jordanian labor laws in 2008, agricultural workers are now included under the umbrella of labor laws, even though  they  were  previously  been  excluded  from  the  Labor  Law.  However, agricultural  workers  are  not  completely  under  the  umbrella  of  the labor  law because the Ministry of Labor stated that agricultural workers have to have a regulation specifically  for  them.  Although  three  years  have  passed  after modifying the Labor Law to include agricultural workers under its umbrella, this regulation still has not been issued.

VIolation of the Rights of Egyptian Workers

• Agricultural workers suffer from abuses that include the confiscation of their passports and withholding of some or all of their wages. In addition, they are exposed to suffering in their workplaces, verbal abuse, mistreatment, and poor living conditions (often in plastic green houses). They are also deprived of their weekly day off and yearly vacations. They also work long hours. Due to the nature of rural  areas  and  strong  social  ties,  agricultural  workers  are  afraid  to  file complaints  against  their employer  in  the  labor  offices  because  the  employer might find out and take revenge on the worker. 
• Although Egyptians are not confined by residency laws and are entitled to reside in Jordan whenever they want for as long as they want, with the condition that they report the place of residence, Egyptian workers are subject to security surveillance.  He  might  be  stopped  while  walking  and  asked  about  his  work permit,  despite  the  fact  that  he  is  not  in  a  workplace.  More  often  than  not, according  to  the  workers,  these  surveillance  sessions  are  interspersed  with violations and verbal abuse.

The Adequacy of Redressing Mechanisms

• Although there are many places and ways for workers to file complaints, the mechanism still lacks the elements needed to effectively fulfill its function. The hotline in the Ministry of Labor works only during the working hours. After the working hours, the complainer should leave a voice message. This is particularly difficult for the domestic workers. In addition, the answering machine in the hotline uses a language that cannot be understood by the migrant workers. Regarding labor directorates that are widespread throughout the kingdom, it is very difficult for the domestic workers to go to them to file a complaint. Moreover, the police stations do not have enough interpreters to communicate with the domestic workers. 

Difficult Accessibility to Justice

• Litigation is available to every single person without discrimination. Nevertheless, the prolonged legal process leads to migrant workers sustaining damages and not receiving just treatment in many cases. The majority of migrant workers leave Jordan before they are able to demand their financial rights because of the negative practices followed by the Public Authorities, which ultimately prevent them from staying in the country until they receive their dues and appropriate compensation for the damages they suffer from. The administrative authorities and the public security repatriate a large number of migrant workers before being redressed. 
• Another challenge that prevents victims from receiving justice is required expenses for pursuing litigation. Jordanian law requires the presence of a lawyer, and many charge more than 1000 JD for resolving a case. This high financial barrier prevents the migrant worker from exercising their rights through litigation.
• Jordanian Labor Law states that if a worker does not claim his or her salaries for two years, the employer no longer has to pay the worker those unpaid salaries. The law likewise states that the worker loses the right to claim damage compensation after three years have passed without them claiming their rights. Because domestic workers often face forced  confinement and deprivation of contacting people outside the house, they are often not able to claim their rights in the statutory time period. This statutory time period adds to the difficulties they face in following up the cases in the courts resulting from their lack of knowledge about the Jordanian legal system as well as the language used in the different levels of investigation and in court.

The Innocent Behind Bars

• One of the main challenges preventing migrant workers from accessing justice is the common practice of employers threatening the migrant workers with sending them to prison if they try to claim their rights. When the worker demands his rights, the employer files a complaint of theft against the worker. Most of these complaints of theft are false, and the migrant workers are discharged at the end of the case proceedings. 
• The phenomenon of migrant workers detention and forced confinement is widespread. It has no legal or legislative justification. The Police Station will detain any migrant worker whose employer has reported that he has left the work. This practice is an arbitrary and illegal deprivation of liberty. Having the worker leave the work before the end of the agreed contractual period is not a crime, and the migrant worker should not be detained. In addition, this practice embeds a form of racial discrimination in society because only migrant workers who leave their employment are detained, and not Jordanian workers. It also ripens the conditions for exploiting the migrant worker. It prevents the workers from accessing justice. Although the Public Security Directorate issued instructions regarding reports of absconding, the workers in the police station refuse to put them in action, still insisting on these arbitrary practices that lack any legislative or legal base. At the same time, the Public Security Department presents itself as a partner with Civil Society in protecting migrant workers’ rights and protecting them from the poor treatment they are subjected to.
• A negative practice commonly performed by the Jordanian public authority against migrant workers is arbitrary administrative detention, which is essentially the police detaining migrant workers for technicalities that do not have any legal grounding. It violates the international human rights conventions ratified by Jordan that guarantee the right to liberty and have been published in the official Gazette for years. The detention of migrant workers with no legal or legitimate reason is a phenomenon that needs serious intervention from the concerned authority. This practice needs to be stopped, and the victims redressed and compensated for the damages they have suffered.
• Migrant workers of all different nationalities are continually threatened by deportation. Currently, there is an abuse of power with regards to deportation. The decision to deport is arbitrary. Upon  the recommendation  of  the related authorities, any migrant worker who is arrested can be deported. Although the employer is the only one who is in charge of issuing the work permit and the residency permit, the migrant worker will be deported whether he has a residency permit or not. It is noteworthy to highlight the speed with which the deportation decisions are issued; the related authorities treat each case as if there is a onesize-fits-all model. As soon as the migrant worker arrives at the police station, a recommendation of deportation is issued no matter whether the worker is the complainant or the accused. Within hours of the recommendation, the governor or the administrative governor issues  a decision for the deportation and the detainment of the worker until the deportation occurs. Moreover, any foreigner who has a  complaint filed against him  should be deported, even if the court discharges him. The person who issues the deportation decision does get enough time to appeal the deportation. 

Forced Labor

• Jordanian legislation is still lacking in respect of forced labor. Jordanian authorities have still not adopted any concrete legislative, administrative, executive, or judicial measures to prohibit the practice of violence against or mistreatment of this category of workers. Jordanian legislation is still incapable of dealing with the problem of forced labor. This legislation does not include provisions that efficiently combat forced labor or redress its victims. The Jordanian Judiciary continues to treat the cases of forced labor as civil labor cases and not as criminal cases that fall under Human Trafficking.

Crimes of Human Trafficking

• The Human Trafficking Prevention Act is one of the first acts issued in the region. Jordan adopted the definition of human trafficking as stated in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, with only a slight change in some of its vocabulary. When Jordan was ratifying this Act, it emphasized several organizational details at the expense of highlighting the rights of human trafficking victims, such as being allowed to legally stay within the country until they receive a final decision to their case in court.

The National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking

• The National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking sits on the top of the combating human trafficking structure in Jordan. It has the leading role in guiding and supervising efforts made to combat human trafficking.  In order to effectively play a leading role, the committee needs significant support by its members and needs to conduct regular meetings, which should take place every three months according to the stated Act, not every six or seven months as what actually happens now. The continuous changing of the government has a huge impact on the regular meeting of the committee. 

The National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking

• In 2010, the Ministry of Justice issued a National Strategy to Combat Human Crime of Human Traffickingrafficking and defined its framework. The strategy defines its objectives that reflect the vision of the Jordanian Government and the expectations in the area of human trafficking for the period of 2010- 2012. Although two and a half years have passed after the strategy has been issued, and although the set time period for completion has almost been reached, less than a quarter of the strategy has been achieved.

The First Component: Prevention

• The only thing that has been achieved by the National Committee’s plan are the electronic link between the Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Interior, the issuance of the necessary instructions to put in action The Regulation of Organizing the Domestic Workers Recruitment Agencies, and the campaigns that prohibition of child labor. Regarding awareness-raising activities, what has been achieved is less than twenty percent, mostly through some publications prepared by the Human Trafficking department in the CID. The publications did not state anything about the hotline available in the directorate of CID or even about the “Police Friend” sessions that raise participants’ awareness about human trafficking. In addition, other publications have been printed in different languages regarding the rights and duties of domestic workers prepared in cooperation with Tamkeen Center, Ministry of Labor, and PSD. No other activities mentioned in the strategy have been implemented. Awareness campaigns play a large role in the prevention of human trafficking crimes on both the societal level and the migrant workers` level because the information contributes to alerting the individual about the nature of these crimes, avoiding these crimes, identifying the mechanisms of reporting these crimes to the police, and assisting the victims. Regarding cooperation with civil society organizations, it is still available. Although the first step always comes from the CSOs, these CSOs are never invited to any of the National Committee`s meetings, nor are the minutes from these meetings ever published. Additionally, The National Center for Human Rights, which should act as a representative body for the CSOs, has never tried to coordinate between the active CSOs who work in this field. The work in this field was carried out by CSOs and international organizations. Regarding training, we can say a considerable portion of this strategy was achieved by civil society organizations, even though there was no noticeable coordination to establish a training program for such a purpose. Furthermore, Training of Trainers (ToT) courses have been held in cooperation with the American Bar Association in 2010. There was also the creation of a national training team in the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in 2011.
• Even though it is the first objective stated in the strategy and the first step that needs to be taken to combat human trafficking, the evaluation of the status of human trafficking in Jordan is still under the consideration of the related institutions. The related institutions are still conducting research on human trafficking but no practical steps have been completed regarding resolving this issue. There are no studies or reports related to the reality of human trafficking published in the kingdom. 
• With respect to legislation that addresses combating human trafficking, we have  not  noticed  any review  or  assessment  to  know  whether  the  provisions stated in the legislation go in accordance with or contradict the Human Trafficking Prevention Act. No practical steps to assess the efficiency of applying the Human Trafficking Prevention Act have been taken throughout these past 2 ½ years. Furthermore, no research, study, survey, or evaluation about applying the law has been prepared; this may be due to the fact that the law is not applied adequately, or it might come as a result of the government’s unwillingness to admit that human trafficking exists in Jordan, even though it exists in all parts of the world, including developed countries.
• Generally speaking, no reports, research studies, or policies that take advantage of the experiences of other countries and focus on developing a strategy to prevent child labor and child exploitation were prepared or adopted.

The Second Component: Protection

• In reality, the difficulty in recognizing and identifying the victims still exists. The border administrators and health workers conduct their job robotically. Although several NGOs conducted training programs with law enforcement entities about how to identify trafficking victims, these law enforcement entities have yet to recognize these victims. All of this is a result of a pervasive attitude that fails to recognize human trafficking victims. Moreover, a national team was established to investigate suspicion of human trafficking in the field. This team is in its fledgling stage and needs support in order to reach its full capacity and fulfill the desired results as outlined at its establishment. This team has still not concretely affected the current situation. Its work has not been evaluated and its ability to recognize victims has not been tested. Naturally, it is important to evaluate the team`s performance and to enhance its ability to achieve its objectives. It is notable that this team lacks female members, who are particularly essential for treating women and children victims.
• A special system for Shelter Units was established in March 2012. This is the only step adopted to found Shelter Units. No database was found, no trained personnel were found, and the protection procedures still lack their main components.
• The Ministry has a hotline, but it can only be accessed during work hours. After work hours, it switches to the answering machine. In this case we cannot call it a hotline, even though translation is available. The National Center for Human Rights has no special line to report human trafficking crimes. The only hotline available 24 hours is the hotline of the Public Security department, but the problem is that it does not provide translation service. Generally, there is a lack of translators  who  speak  the  languages  of the migrant workers. The National Committee has not taken any serious steps to provide translators.
• As for offering psychological, legal, and social assistance, none of the aforementioned sub-strategies were implemented. The only steps were made by NGOs, such as The Jordanian Women`s Union (JWU), Adaleh Center for Human Right Studies, and Tamkeen Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights, in addition to the efforts of the IOM to rehabilitate the victims.
• In one case, temporary residency permits were issued for nine domestic workers. The process of providing identification documents usually takes places in coordination with the embassies of the migrant workers` countries. These embassies play the major role in issuing passports to their subjects. These passports are essential in issuing work permits and nationality permits for the victims. It should be taken into consideration that the law and the governing instructions do not address the rights of the victim to reside and obtain new work permits, which is a pressing lack in the victims` protection. Until now, the committee has not held any informative program for journalists about the crime of human trafficking.

The Third Component: Prosecution

• In spite of the training courses which were conducted by the CSOs and the international NGOs for the judges and public prosecutors, there still remains a misunderstanding concerning the crime of human trafficking and the extent to which it overlaps with other crimes, such as the confiscation of passports and sometimes the demands on workers. Practically, we do not notice any adequate judicial implementations or verdicts of any worth related to human trafficking (unless we include organ trafficking cases which had many verdicts issued). Unfortunately, the Jordanian legislation still lacks the legal provisions to protect witnesses. 
• Until today, a Combating Human Trafficking Unit does not exist in the related institutions. What exists now is the Department of Human Trafficking in the Public Security. The Department was established in 2008 before the passing of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act. It is almost the only body that works seriously in investigating human trafficking cases. Its only problem is the lack of enough women on its staff. This is a problem because women are essential for interviewing female victims and children.

The Fourth Component: Establishing Partnerships and Cooperation on the Local, Regional, and International Level; Promoting Transparency

• The official website of the National Committee for the Prevention of Human Trafficking is still undeveloped. It only includes the slogans of the different bodies of the National Committee, and the text of the National Strategy. It does not include any useful information or raise awareness about the crime of human trafficking or indicators of human trafficking. If we compare this website with the websites of National Committees from other countries that combat human trafficking, we find Jordan’s is extremely lacking. For example, the website of the United Arab Emirates includes a substantial amount of guidance and information as well as how to report any case that resembles human trafficking. It also includes information that defines this crime.
• Jordan has just participated in regional workshops that were organized by international organizations within Jordan. We have not noticed any ratification to conventions of memoranda of understanding between two or more countries in the region regarding exchanging information and knowledge with the diplomatic missions inside the kingdom who still need more support and organization to fulfill the intended objectives.
• The following is an example that shows the lack of cooperation between the Committee and the migrant workers` respective countries. This lack of cooperation promotes human trafficking crimes and creates a special environment for this crime. In 2008, the Philippines banned its subjects from working in Jordan as domestic workers, just as Indonesia did in 2010. In spite of this, the Jordanian Ministry of Labor continued issuing approvals and the Ministry of the Interior continued issuing visas. This led to domestic workers being brought to Jordan illegally through a third country. The most significant example of this is the case of thirty-three Indonesian domestic workers who illegally entered Jordan when they were between the ages of thirteen and seventeen years old. They were discovered. Surely there are many others like them. Moreover, there are many workers who have been deceived about both the country and the workplace in which they work. Additionally, no information is available concerning these workers in the embassies due to their entry into the country during the ban. Although the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking knows about this case, it did not take any practical step to either protect the victims or prosecute the offenders.
• Some governmental practices promote trafficking, such as the `Police Notification` (report of absconding) that prevents victims from accessing justice. The `Police Notification` also stops victims from reporting any violations they suffer because if they file a complaint with the police, they will be detained.  The long duration of investigation and trial, as well as the absence of recovering programs and the lack of shelter for victims, depress victims and make them easy rey for the offenders. In turn, this treatment (or lack thereof) makes it easy to convince the victim to give up his or her rights, and allows for the impunity of the offenders.
• Between 1 January 2011 and 13 June 2012, Tamkeen Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights received 922 complaints from migrant workers from different nationalities and sectors. These complaints included 747 complaints from domestic workers, 29 individual complaints, 8 group complaints for QIZ workers, and 138 complaints from Egyptian workers.