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Jordan: Bodies of Two Asian Women Found in Dumpster

On January 23, 2010

Jordanian police found two bodies of Asian workers in dumpster today near Amman, AFP reported.

The Jordanian police spokesman Mohammad Khatib said that "police recovered the bodies of two young women of Asian appearance from a public waste bin in the Jubeiha district, north of Amman, on Friday." The bodies of the women, whose identity and nationality is unclear, were found in plastic bags. Initial investigation suggests that the women were strangled to death. The women were probably working as maids.

In September of 2009, Jordan included migrant workers under the protection of its labor laws, but abuse of migrant workers is still rampant. In July 2009 Indonesia pulled out its workers from the country and a fact-finding mission from the Philippine parliament, which visited Amman in November, recommended to institute a ban on sending maids to the Middle East.

According to AFP:

Some 70,000 migrant labourers work as domestic servants in Jordan, the great majority of them women.

Some 30,000 come from Indonesia, 15,000 from the Philippines and 25,000 from Sri Lanka, according to labour ministry figures.