Phenix Center for Economic & Informatics Studies Phenix Center for Economic & Informatics Studies
The Jordanian Labor Watch called on the government to take urgent action to stop the violations suffered by nearly 800 migrant workers in the “Aseel” garment factory in the Sahab industrial zone and to work to guarantee their rights, according to a statement issued by the Jordanian Labor Watch on Tuesday.
In a statement issued by the Jordanian Labor Watch on Tuesday, it said that the number of migrant workers in the factory reaches about 800 workers of different nationalities ranging from Indian, Sri Lankan, Bengali, and Nepalese, all of whom suffer from difficult conditions, as they have been without salaries for several months and without work permits, as their work permits expired more than two years ago and others more than a year ago.
The Jordanian Labor Watch indicated that the factory is one of the large factories in Jordan, owned by an Indian businessman, but the factory is suffering from a financial crisis and has been suspended for more than a month, as the owner of the factory left Jordan, leaving this crisis behind.
The Jordanian Labor Watch emphasized that the suffering of migrant workers in the factory is not limited to the non-payment of their salaries; they also complain about their difficult and inadequate housing conditions, with severe water shortages and frequent electricity cuts for long hours, in addition to the reduced meals provided to them.
The factory management did not renew the workers’ work permits, resulting in heavy fines, and the factory management announced that it is unable to buy tickets for the workers to return to their home countries.
The Jordanian Labor Watch saw that the role played by the Ministry of Labor by imposing financial fines on the factory alone is not enough to guarantee the rights of workers, and it is required to guarantee the rights of all male and female workers and to develop procedures that guarantee these rights and ensure that such crises are not repeated.
For its part, the General Syndicate of Textile Workers announced that the priority now is to pay the salaries of all workers and their social security rights, exempt them from fines, and provide travel tickets so that they can return to their countries.
