SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS HELP FOREIGN DOMESTIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 007340

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARN AND G/TIP
LABOR FOR ILAB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2013
TAGS: ELAB SMIG PHUM SOCI JO
SUBJECT: SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS HELP FOREIGN DOMESTIC
WORKERS

Classified By: Ambassador E. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 b and d


1. (U) This cable contains an action request for G/TIP, see
para 20.

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SUMMARY
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2. (U) UN, diplomatic and other sources indicate that the
GOJ has made significant strides in 2003 to secure and
protect the rights of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in
Jordan. In January, the Ministry of Labor and other
concerned parties rolled out a standard, mandatory work
contract for FDWs. The contract provides for FDWs, rights
to life insurance, medical care, rest days and timely payment
of wages and it reiterates their right to be treated
according to international human rights standards. In March,
the GOJ promulgated a provisional law that regulates and
places tighter restrictions on recruiting and employing
agents. One immediate effect of the law was the closure of
numerous recruiting/employment agencies; Ministry of Labor
officials report that the number of qualified agents is now
60, compared with up to 350 agents prior to the law. The law
also brought FDWs under Jordanian labor law -- including
minimum wage law -) for the first time.


3. (U) The GOJ,s labor reforms and its cooperation with
international organizations and source country embassies are
beginning to make a difference. Source country embassies
tell us that instances of abuse are down and that wage
disputes are regularly settled. The United Nations hopes to
export the Jordan model for dealing with the FDW issue to
other countries in the region. The UN and the GOJ have
discussed the possibility of establishing an NGO to assist
and represent FDWs in Jordan but lack the necessary funds.
The Embassy would welcome any suggestions that G/TIP may have
on funding sources for this worthy initiative. While FDWs
continue to register complaints, particularly with regard to
the non-payment of wages, the overall climate for domestic
workers has improved and, more importantly, the GOJ clearly
recognizes the need to protect these workers. END SUMMARY.

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BACKGROUND: UNIFEM WORKS TOWARD STANDARD CONTRACT
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4. (U) In August 2001, the United Nations Development Fund
for Women (UNIFEM) and the Ministry of Labor signed an MOU to
begin the "Empowering Migrant Women Workers in Jordan"
project. This project will continue through 2004 and aims to
promote FDW rights and strengthen accountability in hiring
and dispute resolution. It is part of a regional program
focused on domestic workers in selected countries, with
Jordan as a receiving country and Nepal, India, Indonesia,
the Philippines, and Sri Lanka as source countries.


5. (U) In 2002, the project led to the formation of a
steering committee made up of UNIFEM, the Ministries of
Labor, Interior, and Planning, the Public Security
Directorate,s Family Protection Unit, two Jordanian women,s
organizations, and the embassies of Indonesia, the
Philippines, and Sri Lanka. The committee continues to meet
on a monthly basis. In January 2003, it rolled out a
mandatory standard work contract for FDWs, written to comply
with ILO conventions. This contract is a first for Jordan,
and UNIFEM views it as a model for the region. The contract
is now a requirement for new FDWs to obtain visas before
entering Jordan, as well as residence and work permits after
arrival.


6. (U) Parties to the contract include the FDW, the
employer, and the employing agent, and a copy of the contract
is provided to the FDW's embassy. The contract provides for
FDWs' rights to life insurance, medical care, rest days, and
timely payment of wages, and it reiterates the right to be
treated according to international human rights standards.
It stipulates that employers are responsible for the costs of
obtaining work and residence permits, and establishes a
monthly wage (subject to Jordanian legal minimum wage).

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LABOR MINISTRY IMPLEMENTS LEGAL AND REGULATORY CHANGES
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7. (U) In March 2003, the GOJ promulgated a Labor
Ministry-drafted provisional law establishing Ministry
oversight of FDW recruitment and certain employment
conditions, and bringing domestic workers (native and
foreign) under Jordanian labor law -- including minimum wage
laws -- for the first time. The law lays out strict
requirements for licensing of employment agents: they must be
Jordanian citizens or Jordanian-registered companies of good
repute, must not have a criminal record, must sign a
standards of acceptable conduct document, and must be
licensed before beginning operations. The law details the
procedure by which agents obtain Ministry concurrence for
individual FDW contracts and defines and limits the fees that
agents can charge. Finally, agents are prohibited from
recruiting or employing workers under 18 years of age, and
only licensed agents may recruit and employ new FDWs.


8. (U) The law also empowers the Labor Minister to enact
implementing regulations. To facilitate this, the Ministry
has formed a committee consisting of Ministry representatives
and licensed agents. One regulation in place since March is
a requirement that all licensed agents maintain a 50,000
Jordanian dinar (USD 70,000) escrow account to which the
Ministry has access for resolving any payment disputes that
arise. Another is a requirement that the standard contract
be used for all new FDWs. This is an exception to the labor
law, which normally grants employers and employees the right
to establish working conditions on an individual basis. The
Ministry is currently working with other relevant ministries
to establish procedures to grandfather in FDWs already
resident in Jordan.


9. (U) One immediate effect of the law was the closure of
numerous recruiting/employment agencies. Before the law, as
many as 350 agencies in Jordan may have recruited FDWs.
According to the Minstry, only 60 agents have qualified for
licenses under the new requirements since July 1.

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THE CURRENT SITUATION
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10. (SBU) Statistics on FDWs in Jordan are generally not
available, largely because the GOJ was not directly involved
in regulating FDWs until this year. The Ministry believes
that there are more than 16,000 FDWs in Jordan, based on the
number of valid residence permit holders (but admits that its
estimate is low). Other estimates, including UNIFEM,s,
range as high as 50,000. The Sri Lankan Embassy estimates
that there are at least 25,000 Sri Lankan FDWs in Jordan, the
Philippine embassy estimates at least 7,000 Philippine FDWs,
and there are much smaller numbers from other source
countries, with Indonesia and India having the largest FDW
populations in this remaining group.


11. (U) One reason for the discrepancy in estimated numbers
of FDWs is the common practice of allowing residence permits
to lapse. This occurs when employers refuse to pay to obtain
or renew permits, or when FDWs change employers and simply do
not obtain a permit. All persons in Jordan (including
tourists) without legal status are subject to a 1.5 JD (2.10
USD) per day fine, with no cap, and individual violators are
liable for the fines. Accumulated fines are the greatest
single hurdle to repatriating FDWs wishing to leave Jordan.
Source country embassies report that the Ministry of Interior
has waived these fines in some cases, often involving
egregious behavior by employers or guarantees from the
departing FDWs that they will not return. According to the
Labor Ministry, the GOJ grandfathering working group (para 8)
is considering an overstay fine amnesty for FDWs who entered
before the changes were enacted to encourage illegal
residents to participate in the new procedures.


12. (U) The most frequent FDW complaint by far is
non-payment of wages. Such complaints range from delayed
payments to no payment at all. According to the Sri Lankan
embassy, such situations are normally resolved, especially if
the FDW was hired through an agent who can facilitate
resolution. Source country embassies also assist in
mediating disputes, and the vast majority of cases brought to
their attention are resolved.


13. (U) Another common complaint is that employers are
unwilling to renew FDWs, residence permits. Some Jordanians
have pointed out that the marginal price difference between
obtaining residence permits (almost 1 JD or 1.40 USD per day)
and paying overstay fines creates a disincentive for
employers. They argue that employers risk losing their
employees once the FDW has obtained a transferable, one-year
permit and no longer has a need to remain with the employer.
When employers fail to renew permits, they transfer costs and
risk to FDWs. Other complaints include verbal abuse and
employers retaining their FDWs, passports (which is illegal).

14. (C) Allegations of physical or sexual abuse are less
common. The Sri Lankan Embassy considers physical abuse rare
and reports that most cases are resolved through mediation by
employment agents. The Philippine Embassy told us that four
Philippinas reported being raped in 2002, though it is
unclear whether any of the perpetrators were employers.
However, all agree that accurately quantifying abuse in
Jordan is extremely difficult as it is not reported to a
single source and often simply goes unreported. In cases
that have been reported to the GOJ, there is no history of
successful prosecution.


15. (SBU) One reason FDWs are reticent to report abuse is
that they do not want to negatively affect their working
conditions or lose their jobs, especially since employers
sometimes counter charges of abuse with accusations of theft.
Another reason is the language barrier between low-level GOJ
officials and FDWs. The traditional source of redress and
reconciliation in Jordanian society is through the family, as
opposed to the state, an option not available to FDWs. Thus
source country embassies comment that abuse often gets
reported only to the embassies, and that the FDWs simply
leave the country before the GOJ addresses the issue. Many
FDWs are not given regular time off (as the new contract
requires),though source country embassies report that their
nationals do not complain about this since they come with the
understanding that they must meet the needs of the households
where they work.


16. (C) The Labor Ministry claimed to us that no FDWs have
entered the country illegally since the new procedures were
put in place earlier this year. However, the Indonesian ,
Philippine and Sri Lankan Embassies believe that FDWs
continue to enter Jordan illegally, i.e. on tourist visas,
often without a valid contract. The Philippine Embassy
asserts that some groups of Philippine domestic workers have
been admitted by border authorities because of the wasta
(connections) of some agents. The source country embassies
also agree that one of the biggest challenges to improvement
of working conditions for FDWs in Jordan is unscrupulous
recruiters in source countries. These recruiters often
promise specific but unrealistic jobs, wages, and working
conditions to lure source country nationals into work
contracts in Jordan.


17. (C) A long-resident Roman Catholic priest working with
the Philippine and South Asian FDW community assesses the
current level of abuse as significantly lower than in the
mid-1990's. He ascribes the improvement to the opening of
several source country embassies and active source country
efforts to monitor and protect their national communities in
Jordan.


18. (U) UNIFEM and source country embassies have found the
Ministry and the Public Security Directorate,s Family
Protection Unit (which handles abuse of women) to be
cooperative. They also agree that the provisional law and
the standard contract are steps in the right direction for
FDWs. UNIFEM hopes to export the Jordan model for dealing
with the FDW issue to other countries in the region and is
committed to assisting the GOJ in making these changes work.


19. (U) All sources concur that that while the recent labor
standards focus for foreigners has been on domestic workers,
this is because working conditions in other industries are
better, largely due to Ministry enforcement of industrial
labor standards and union involvement.

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ACTION REQUEST
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20. (U) The Ministry and UNIFEM agree further on the need
for an NGO to represent and assist FDWs in Jordan. In fact,
there are already informal networks that support compatriot
FDWs on an ad hoc basis. However, UNIFEM and the GOJ are
unable to fund such an initiative, with the Ministry pointing
out that there is not even a GOJ-supported shelter for abused
Jordanian women. While no specific request was made, both
entities are searching for funding and are unsure where they
will find it, particularly over the long term. Department
guidance on this issue would be appreciated.

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COMMENT
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21. (U) While it has taken years of behind-the-scenes
effort by source country embassies and UNIFEM to improve the
conditions of foreign domestic workers in Jordan, the Labor
Ministry's adoption of a standard FDW contract, promulgation
of the provisional law on FDW, and implementation of tighter
requirements for employment agents are real steps in the
right direction. While only time will tell whether these new
regulations will be effective in implementation and
enforcement, if successful, they could become, as UNIFEM
hopes, a model for other countries in the region.
GNEHM