Tamkeen Centre tracks down human trafficking

AMMAN — Tamkeen Centre, an NGO which specialises in protecting the rights of migrant and refugee workers, said it has sent 19 human trafficking complaints to the Public Security Directorate’s anti-trafficking department in the first six months of this year.

According to information provided by the centre, seven of the complaints have been confirmed and dealt with by the department as trafficking charges to date.

“Every complaint that we receive is studied carefully to make sure that it is legitimate, because human trafficking is a serious charge,” said Mohammed Armouti, a media officer in the trafficking department, adding that they receive hundreds of complaints from workers who “simply want to get rid of their employer and have no serious claim to a trafficking charge”.

The acquitted charges, according to Tamkeen’s report, were cases of withholding the foreign worker’s passport, denying medical assistance, cutting off communication with the outside world and maltreatment.

Mahdi Safadi, an owner of a bureau that recruits foreign workers, said that many employers ground foreign workers by withholding their passports and lock them in and take their key away “out of fear that the employee might escape”.

He added: “We have customers who have had three maids run away in less than six months. They had to pay over JD2000 for each one on top of the inconvenience, which is why people with experiences like this tend to restrict the worker’s movement.”

As for Rimas Hamdan, also an owner of a bureau for employing foreign workers, “there is a clear line between what is trafficking and what is the employer getting their money’s worth. Some workers cry maltreatment to cover up being the ones who refuse to do their jobs.”

She added: “This does not cancel out, however, all the real and harsh cases of human trafficking that many foreign workers go through. I am sure the authorities know how to identify real abuse.”