JORDAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ANNUAL TIP REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 AMMAN 000772 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR NEA/ELA AND G/TIP PATEL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM PREF SMIG JO SUBJECT: JORDAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ANNUAL TIP REPORT REF: A. STATE 2731 ¶B. 07 AMMAN 968 ¶C. AMMAN 727 ¶D. AMMAN 410 ¶E. AMMAN 261 ¶F. 07 AMMAN 4166 ¶G. 07 AMMAN 3992 ¶H. 07 AMMAN 3597 ¶I. 07 AMMAN 2757 ¶J. 07 AMMAN 2392 ¶K. 07 AMMAN 2211 ¶1. (SBU) During the preceding year, the Government of Jordan demonstrated its commitment to combating trafficking in persons (TIP) and addressing forced labor concerns related to the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ)s. The government drafted an anti-TIP law; increased the training for its labor inspectorate; and published regular updates on its action plan on labor compliance. As occasional allegations of labor violations emerged, the GOJ - led by its labor ministry - investigated, took punitive action where necessary, and published its findings. In February 2008, the GOJ launched a five-year Better Work Jordan program with the ILO and IFC to improve labor compliance. ¶2. (SBU) The following information is based on responses to questions contained in reftel A with parenthetical references corresponding to reftel A paragraph and subheading. -------------- Checklist -------------- ¶3. (U) (27/A) Jordan is a country of destination for women from South Asia and South East Asia, primarily Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines, for the purpose of labor. Eastern European women also enter Jordan for illicit purposes, but there is no evidence of coercion, force, or fraud. According to the Ministry of Labor (MoL),there were 313,495 foreign workers registered in Jordan at the end of ¶2007. There are 70,000 foreign domestic workers (FDWs) estimated to be working in Jordan. The MoL counts approximately 36,000 migrant workers with valid work permits working in the 97 factories of the 13 Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZs). (SBU) (27/A) The MoL estimates that there are 30,000 Indonesian FDWs, 25,000 Sri Lankan FDWs, and 15,000 Filipino FDWs ) estimates which are generally corroborated by their respective embassies, but subject to fluctuation. In 2007, the Philippine Embassy received complaints of non-payment of wages, sexual assault and harassment, withholding of passports, and other forms of mistreatment from its citizens. The Philippine Embassy,s Employment Center in Amman hosted more than 200 runaway workers in squalid conditions. In January 2008, the Sri Lankan Embassy told emboff it housed 92 runaways. According to a UNIFEM and Friends of Women,s Workers study published in 2007, approximately 100 Sri Lankan women and 90 Filipinos run away each month, while 6 to 8 runaways seek refuge at the Indonesian Embassy each day. Diplomats from these countries corroborate the study,s findings. - (U) (27/A) The Ministry of Labor maintains a directorate for foreign domestic workers. This office's mission is to control and monitor all FDW issues, including licensing of recruiting agencies and investigating reports of abuse. The directorate operates a hotline which received and resolved complaints throughout the year. - (SBU) (27/A) Jordan may also be a destination country for men from South Asia and South East Asia for the purposes of labor. These men work primarily in factories within the QIZs, and may be subject to abuses such as unpaid wages and withholding of passports. - (SBU) (27/A) To a much lesser degree, Jordan may be a transit destination both for trafficked women from South and South East Asia, and for men from South and South East Asia. The women may transit Jordan en route to other Middle East countries, such as Syria, Egypt, or Iraq for the purpose of labor exploitation. No Jordanians appear to be complicit in AMMAN 00000772 002 OF 010 the trafficking of these women. The women reportedly possess valid transit visas, and would only enter Jordan's airports due to the routing of flights from the source to the destination countries. The men, on the other hand, may be brought to Jordan with the promise of employment within the country, only to be trucked overland into Iraq. In 2005, the Ministry of Labor and Ministry of the Interior issued instructions to all border crossing authorities prohibiting foreign workers from transiting unless their sponsor accompanies them. According to some advocates, Jordanian middlemen are operating as sponsors to bypass this instruction. Post cannot assess the extent of this practice. Please see paragraph 35 for more information on transit visa regulations. - (SBU) (27/A) To address what it perceives as an information deficit regarding potential trafficking of women FDWs, the regional office of UNIFEM conducted a survey of 1,200 FDWs and focus groups. The results will be published in March/April 2008, but were not available at the time of this report. ¶4. (SBU) (27/B) Trafficking in Jordan is almost exclusively for the purpose of labor exploitation, and is primarily limited to FDWs and factory workers in the QIZs. A March 2007 independent assessment of labor conditions in the QIZs concluded, however, that while there do not appear to be organized trafficking networks operating between Jordan and the home countries of migrant garment workers, there have been working conditions which could be considered human trafficking, especially when concerning involuntary overtime and excessive restrictions on movement. Workers generally originate from South and South East Asia. In 2007, the government, led by the Ministry of Labor, acknowledged that trafficking was a GOJ concern, formed an inter-ministerial anti-TIP committee, improved its inspection regime and capacity, developed new means of interagency cooperation, participated in several trainings, and investigated several allegations of trafficking. - (SBU) (27/B) Exploitation of FDWs begins with the recruiting agencies in source countries, but continues with some receiving agencies in Jordan and with some Jordanian employers. When exploitation takes place among QIZ workers, factory owners and managers in Jordan generally bear the most responsibility. Both FDWs and QIZ workers sometimes find themselves in conditions that include: extended and forced working hours, unpaid wages, restrictions on freedom of movement including the withholding of passports and residency permits, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse and assault. Abuses related to wage and working hour issues occur with much greater frequency than do physical or sexual abuse. - (SBU) (27/B) The recruiting agencies (both in the source and receiving countries) are often the source of FDW troubles. Some source country agencies exaggerate the FDW,s qualifications. When she arrives in Jordan, the receiving agency is faced with the choice of repatriating the FDW - at a loss to the company - or hiring her out to Jordanian employers who expect a higher caliber worker. When the employer complains and demands that the agency take the FDW back, the agency will simply find another unsuspecting employer. JO, a Jordanian monthly magazine, quoted a former recruiting agency employer as suggesting that the agencies make the greatest profits by shuffling FDWs from household to household because they can charge each employer the full cost of importing the worker. Despite June 2006 MOL regulations that prohibit the transfer of workers from one sponsor to another under any circumstances, the practice reportedly continues. Other MOL regulations require employers to pay for work permits in advan ce of a worker,s arrival in Jordan, to hire FDWs for a minimum of two years without a trial period, and require the agencies to repatriate immediately any women who arrive in Jordan pregnant or suffering from a contagious disease. - (SBU) (27/B) Some QIZ workers alleged that owners/managers withheld their passports and/or delayed payment of wages. During the reporting period, allegations decreased substantially from the previous year due to more rigorous MOL inspection, which required violators to pay fines when appropriate, and publicized the outcomes of their findings in AMMAN 00000772 003 OF 010 regular online reports. The MoL operates 23 regional offices throughout the country. An independent MOL advisor reported to emboffs that based on regular MOL inspections, almost all QIZ workers now are in possession of their passports. According to this same advisor, the number and severity of violations of workers rights and trafficking-related offenses decreased substantially during the reporting period. - (SBU) (27/B) In August 2007, the MOL started regularizing worker registration by issuing temporary worker permits to more than 6,000 foreign workers in the QIZs who were out of status. Previous employers often failed to file the appropriate documents, or the government failed to process the paperwork in a timely manner after transferring workers from closed factories, resulting in thousand of dollars in overstay fines. The MOI and MOL worked together and with the NCHR to repatriate foreign workers who could not afford to pay overstay fines related to their status during the process, although some waited three to four months for waivers. In February 2008, the Cabinet officially exempted the 6,000 workers from the fines and allowed them three months to request new work permits or depart the country. - (SBU) (27/B) In June 2007, the MOI and MOL instituted a system to regularize Egyptian laborers, many of whom were living in the country under expired residence or work permits. In collaboration with the Egyptian government, the MOL granted more than 12,400 permits to Egyptians in a process facilitated by the Egyptian Embassy. In mid-July, after a one-month grace period, the police arrested more than 3,800 illegal workers (mostly Egyptian),of whom the government repatriated more than 1,000, releasing others on humanitarian grounds. - (SBU) (27/B) In January 2008, the Philippine Overseas Labor Employment Agency, citing "the growing number of distressed Filipino workers being housed" in their center in Amman, temporarily suspended new Filipino workers from seeking employment in Jordan. Despite the agreement to repatriate and waive fines in February 2008, the Philippine government had not agreed to lift the ban by the time of the writing of this report. ¶5. (SBU) (27/C) Interministerial coordination on trafficking issues has improved over the past year. In November 2007, The Ministry of Labor initiated a new interministerial committee which is composed of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT),Ministry of Interior (MOI),General Intelligence Directorate (GID),and Public Security Directorate (PSD). This committee replaces its predecessor, which was chaired by the MFA (ref B). According to GOJ sources, the committee has met twice since its formation. (SBU) (27/C) The GoJ does not keep readily accessible records of court proceedings, making it difficult to obtain information on prosecutions related to trafficking. Government sources in the labor inspectorate report nearly daily coordination between MOL and PSD on inspections of QIZ factories. If human rights violations are alleged, then the government-funded National Center for Human Rights (NCHR) is alerted and conducts its own investigation. ¶6. (SBU) (27/D) The GoJ faces severe resource constraints on its ability to monitor anti-trafficking efforts or to assist victims. Additionally, Jordan's traditional society tends to promote a culture of silence and discretion with regard to matters of the home. The most egregious of the abuses which some FDWs and QIZ workers suffer - physical and sexual assault - are crimes that often go unreported in Jordan (and in many other countries). Factors such as language and cultural barriers also hamper the reporting of these crimes. ¶7. (SBU) (27/E) The GOJ does not have a systematic methodology of monitoring and reporting on its anti-trafficking efforts, although the new anti-trafficking task force is expected to improve information sharing between government agencies. The MoL and PSD closely coordinate inspections of QIZ factories. -------------- Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers *********************** * Missing Section 004 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 005 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 006 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 007 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 008 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 009 * *********************** *********************** * Missing Section 010 * ***********************