Report calls for safeguarding migrant workers’ rights

AMMAN — On Friday, Jordan and the world are celebrating International Migrants Day, which falls on December 18 of each year. 

On the occasion, the Jordan Labour Watch (JLW) called for adopting a comprehensive legal framework for ensuring equality of treatment between nationals and migrant workers, notably eligibility to basic workplace rights. 

The calls were made through a report issued by the Phenix Centre for Economics and Informatics Studies’ JLW in cooperation with the German Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES).

The report revealed that there are some 164 million migrant workers worldwide, constituting 64 per cent of the 272 million migrants.

Citing Central Bank of Jordan’s figures, the report showed that remittances of foreign workers in Jordan in the first half of 2020 decreased by 17 per cent, standing at JD160 million, compared with a 10 per cent decline in the total remittances of Jordanians working abroad during the same period, which totalled JD1.05 billion.

The report said that the Jordanian labour market includes 348,000 foreign workers registered at the Labour Ministry, in addition to some 600,000 unregistered workers.   

Recent data also indicate that the number of foreign workers who have work permits at the end of November 2020 was approximately 197,000, registering a “significant decrease” compared with 2019, as large numbers of them have returned to their countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Phenix Center for Economics and Informatics Studies is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to independent policy research and measuring public opinions on impactful current and emerging issues in areas of economics, society, and its legislative environment in Jordan, according to their website.