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Government aims to 'Jordanise' labour force

[Jordan] Foreign workers generally find employment in the construction, industry, services and agriculture sectors. [Date picture taken: 05/21/2006] Maria Font de Matas/IRIN
Foreign workers generally find employment in construction and agriculture sectors.
The government will impose “a significant increase” on the fees levied on foreign workers applying for annual work permits in an effort to raise employment levels among native Jordanians, a source at the labour ministry said on Monday. Simultaneously, the ministry plans to train Jordanian workers in order for them to better compete with their expatriate counterparts. “The ministry is keen to enhance workers’ competitiveness and performance through its programmes and schemes,” said Labour Minister Bassem Salem. According to a ministry report issued last week, 15.5 percent of working-age Jordanians – some 200,000 people – are currently unemployed. This includes approximately 144,000 males and 55,000 females. To this end, monies generated by increases in fees for expatriate work visas will go towards funding a national Training and Employment Fund. Annual visa costs for Arab workers will be raised from the equivalent of US $200 to between US $500 and US $700. Those for other foreigners, meanwhile, will be increased from the equivalent of US $450 to between US $900 and US $1,300. According to government statistics, the number of legal expatriates in Jordan is currently about 500,000, representing approximately one fourth of the national workforce. Such foreign workers generally find employment in the construction, industry, services and agriculture sectors. There are also an estimated 500,000 illegal labourers working in the kingdom without official permission. Iraqis, many of whom have fled the chaos of their native country, make up the majority of these, followed by Egyptians and Syrians, according to interior ministry figures. Illegal workers are generally paid about half of what their Jordanian counterparts receive for the same work. They also must often endure arduous working conditions, including long working hours, delayed payments and – occasionally – physical abuse. According to the law, any foreign labourer caught without an official work permit is immediately deported. Egyptian construction worker Zaki Abdullah complained of sporadic mistreatment by his Jordanian employers, but was unable to seek help due to his illegal status. “If they don’t want to pay us, they just threaten to call the police,” said Abdullah. “Because we’re illegal, we can’t say anything.” Plans to reduce the kingdom’s army of foreign workers have faltered in the past. According to labour leaders, the government must now take “drastic measures”, including regular spot checks for illegal employment and the encouragement of Jordanians to take jobs usually dominated by expatriates, particularly in agriculture and services. Labour leaders also criticise Jordanians who continue to shun menial jobs, calling this attitude part of a “culture of shame”. Last week, the labour ministry temporarily halted the issuance of work permits for non-Jordanians in order to study the issue further. The government has also recently increased the minimum wage to the equivalent of US $140 per month, in hopes of luring Jordanian workers to take jobs they would usually turn down.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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