Jordan – The Labour Ministry asked the government to approve the amendment of worker permit fees system, to add a text that oblige those who did not renew their work permits, or those without it to pay 500 dinars for each year of violation when they want to leave the country.
The ministry asked to apply this decision on those who do not require a residence permit in the kingdom, which means that it will include Egyptians and Syrian refugee workers.
The ministry consulted the legal department and confirmed that this amendment comes to assess and re-regulate the labour market, the ministry of labour estimated the number of migrant workers who work illegally up to 500 thousands, 240 thousand Egyptians, and 160 thousand Syrians and 100 thousand other nationalities.
The ministry said that “based on the provisions of labour law, migrant workers of all nationalities are not required to pay money in the event of their desire to leave the country even if they did not renew their work permit, this legislative shortcomings, lead to missed financial opportunity for the country, and create wide-spread of non compliance with laws and regulations in labour market.”
The ministry said that amending the work permit system would be beneficial for the Employment Technical and Vocational Education and Training Fund and give the treasury millions of JDs, whether through issuance of work permits or by implementing the new regulation.
It is worth mentioning that the provisions of the Residence and Foreigners Affairs Law oblige the workers to pay one and a half JDs each day exceeded all the legal time, but excludes the Egyptian, Syrian and Gulf nationalities.
The director of Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights Linda Kalash commented on this decision by saying, the Ministry of Labour is still floundering in its decisions, and it seems that they have no clear vision so far, which made them initiate hasty amendments that do not consider the law.
Kalash clarified that it is not allowed for the migrant worker to issue a work permit for himself, and sometimes the employer fail to issue a permits for the worker , pointing out that this amendment only punish the worker who is helpless.
Kalash says “it is obvious that Egyptians are the target”. How will the authorities verify who was working and who was staying in the kingdom, this proposal that targets Egyptians is a clear violation of the bilateral agreement between Egypt and Jordan on the exchange of manpower, which stipulate that workers should be treated like citizens in both counties”.
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