The aim of the articles is threefold: (1) to raise awareness and emphasize the humanity of migrant workers – visible in homes and on streets, in restaurants, malls, factories and fields, but often discarded in peoples’ mentalities as expendable, second-class citizens – to Jordanian readers, readers in other Arab countries contending with issues regarding migrant workers, and to the international community (2) to raise questions concerning the effectiveness and implementation of Jordanian labor laws intended to protect migrant workers, and (3) to add to existing migrants’ rights-related literature and resources online.

Each article will focus on the story of one migrant worker. We are hoping to capture the personal and labor histories of workers in a variety of sectors, including but not limited to households, agricultural fields, Qualified Industrial Zones, restaurant/service, construction.

We hope that one person’s voice in recounting her (or his) experience of coming to and working in Jordan, of her thoughts and feelings, worries, hopes, and concerns will offer readers a glimpse into the life of this migrant worker. Although one migrant worker’s story cannot represent that of the whole, each worker’s experience crucially shapes and is shaped by the legal, economic, and societal structures in place.

Our goal is to produce one article every two weeks. (The timeline of when we will conclude the article series has not yet been determined.) As the primary writer, I will use my narrative voice to frame the context of the interview, and to raise questions and offer additional insights.

Thank you for your time,
Elizabeth Kim
Tamkeen Center for Legal Aid & Human Rights, Intern

This prize, created in 1988, is awarded for individual or collective action on the ground, irrespective of nationality or borders, undertaken in France or abroad. Each year has different themes and the last Arab NGO winner was PNGO (Palestinian NGO Network) in 2009.

Tamkeen’s general manager Mrs. Linda Kalash has been invited to Paris by the French Foreign Affairs Ministry to receive the prize and the sum of 15,000 Euros for her organization’s projects. This is considered a significant boost to her valuable work in Jordan.

A YouTube interview with Mrs. Linda Kalash in Arabic can be viewed on this link where she speaks about the situation of migrant workers in Jordan and the role of Tamkeen in supporting them (Video and interview by Wissam al-Saliby, Ethiopian Suicides).

Subhani was only 27 years old, and the mother of 3 young children. Her passport number is N4181885 and her devastated family has yet to receive news regarding the causes of her death or what is being done to her body.

We demand that the relevant Jordanian authorities launch an immediate investigation on what caused her death with the full report being communicated to her family.

We are currently in touch with Subhani’s family and will provide more updates as the situation develops.

Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said his group is receiving requests for assistance from undocumented OFWs in Jordan for fear of being caught amid arrest of more than 30 of them since last Monday, September 26.

“As per reports we have received from some of the undocumented OFWs who asked our assistance, there are 20 women OFWs, who used to work as domestic workers in Jordan, were nabbed by the host govt. authorities last Monday,” Monterona added.

The following day, another 8 undocumented OFWs were caught by the host govt. authorities.

Monterona citing reports from the undocumented OFWs, the host govt. authorities are massively conducting house-to-house search of illegal or undocumented migrants in its capital city, Amman and other nearby places.

“Report reaching us is that the host govt. recently issued an instruction to conduct house-to-house search to clean-up the country amid proliferation of undocumented migrants,” Monterona adding that his group is still verifying if the crackdown is only targeting undocumented OFWs or migrants of other nationalities, too.

Monterona said most of the undocumented OFWs were ‘absconder’ or those who were forced to run away from their employers due to abuse and maltreatment and violations of their employment contract.

Monterona noted the deplorable conditions and rampant abuse and maltreatment of OFWs in Jordan prompted the PH govt. to imposed a ban on the deployment of household service workers or popularly known as domestic helpers in January 2008.

“As an off-shoot of the imposition of deployment ban in Jordan, just as like of the ban imposed in Lebanon, illegal deployment activities by human traffickers and illegal recruiters victimizing thousands of OFWs and aspiring OFWs, had only proliferated” Monterona said.

As the host govt. intensifies the crackdown of undocumented OFWs, Monterona calls on the host govt. to respect the fundamental human rights of the undocumented OFWs.

“We appeal to the host govt. to regularize, if not immediately repatriate, the undocumented OFWs and migrants of other nationalities while ensuring that their rights are respected,” Monterona averred.

The Saudi-based OFW leader also calls on the PH embassy officials in Jordan to provide assistance to the nabbed undocumented OFWs and liaise with the concerned host govt. authorities for their documentation or immediate repatriation.

According to Monterona, as per his group estimate, there are around 40,000 to 50,000 OFWs in Jordan.

“Sixty percent, or even more, are undocumented,” Monterona ended. # # #

Written by:

John Leonard Monterona

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator

Email: migranteme@gmail.com

Though the report was published in 2011, cases of of  abuse have been documented since at least 2007; inhabitable dormitories, 13-18 hour work days, unfair wages, physical mistreatment, and sexual exploitation all frequent the worker’s accusations. A Sri Lankan factory manager, Anil Santha, lies at the center of these abuses. Santha is accused of a range of misconduct including rape and withholding pay, a pattern of exploitation which he sustained by threatening to deport workers if they complained.  Though workers overcame the barrier of fear he constructed, the response of the authorities and upper management was less than effective;  after a factory wide strike in 2010, Anil was sent away only to resume terrorizing workers one month later. On June 18, Anil was arrested after an employee recounted her rape before a prosecutor. He was released only three days later. 

The Jordanian labor ministry’s failure to protect the rights of these workers is consistent with its wider migrant practices; for example, in 2007, Bangladeshi men were banned from working in Jordan after attempting to pursue their rights as prescribed under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. The ministry continues to fail to enforce the Free Trade Agreement’s labor clause.; Better Works Jordan, a monitoring group largely sponsored the by the U.S. government, has placed the factory on its “Golden List” of institutes in full compliances with labor laws for the past five years. Given that complaints have been registered against the factory for several years, workers accuse the ministry of taking bribes from the factory. The Jordanian government’s reactions discourage workers to report mistreatment, as they risk their lives and employment only be subjected to apathy and retaliatory abuse. 

As migrant workers’ voices are effectively silenced by ineffective ministries and oversight organizations, change must come from those in a position of power – most visibly,  the distributors who purchase Classic Factory’s clothing.  Retailers who source from the factory include Wal-mart, Hanes, and Macy’s. Though monitors are periodically sent to the factories, they only speak with workers selected and primed by the management. Students in Chicago have recognized the need for these brands to take a stronger stand against these inhumane and illegal conditions. The students distribute fliers near retailer stores to encourage consumers to pressure companies to comply with the law and end the chronic exploitation.  

In the Kuwaiti case, V. R. Letchumi, a 38-year-old maid had 23 nails hammered into her body by her Kuwaiti sponsors when she would ask them for her wages. Letchumi had nine nails removed from her body thus far in a Sri Lankan hospital, and she will undergo additional surgeries in the coming days to remove the rest of them. In the case from Jordan, D. M. Chandima, a maid, reported to the Sri Lankan consulate in Amman that she was forced to swallow six nails by her sponsors.

The Sponsorship system that governs employment and immigration status of foreign workers in Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia and Jordan creates a near-total dependence of the worker on his sponsor. Workers’ contracts can be terminated at will by the sponsor, but not by the worker who is unable to change employers. Workers cannot leave their employer, even in cases of abuse, unless they’re desperate enough to risk imprisonment followed by deportation. Domestic workers are the most vulnerable migrant workers since their employment is away from the public eye and the government’s ability and willingness to prevent abuse is close to zero.

The first report includes interviews with families of deceased Filipino domestic workers. It includes an interview with family members of an abused maid in Jordan who was not given her salary and forbidden to contact her family for two years. Her autopsy report ruled that she died of natural causes. Another interview is with family members of Romilyn Eroy-Ybañez, who was brutally murdered in her sponsor’s house in Saudi Arabia this September.

The second report discusses the difficulties the Philippine government is having when trying to protect its workers overseas. The report mentions that Filipino workers are willing to take the huge risk of being abused and killed in the Middle East in order to provide for their families back home.

Very few details were reported about either case, but from the information available it appears that on July 14th, a 35-year-old maid from Horowpathana, Sri-Lanka, set herself on fire in her employer’s home. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where she died on the next day from organ failure and severe burns. On July 25th, the Jordanian daily Al-Doustor reported that another Sri-Lankan maid attempted to kill herself in As-Salt, jumping from the third floor.

Jordan’s labor laws are considered very progressive for the region. Jordan is the only Arab country to include domestic workers under the scope of its labor laws. Employers are obligated to pay salaries directly to the workers’ bank accounts, buy health insurance for their workers and limit the working hours to ten per day. However, the law does not prohibit employers from confining workers to their household and confiscating passports. A 2009 study by the Labor Watch Project at the Phoenix Centre for Economic and Information Studies showed that enforcement of Jordan’s labor laws is lacking. In many cases workers were paid less than the minimum wage (150 JD, $211), overtime work was not compensated, employers prohibited the workers from leaving for annual leaves, and other workers reported of verbal and physical abuse.

Poor living and working conditions are often the cause of suicide by migrant workers. While Jordan’s progressive labor laws should be commended, a tighter enforcement of those laws may be able to save the lives of such workers who turn to suicide as a way out of their desperate situation.