Jordan: Protect child workers, says NCHR
An estimated 50,000 impoverished children work in difficult and hazardous conditions every day, according to the NCHR's latest Human Rights Report.
The plight of working children and their ongoing exploitation was highlighted in the Kingdom’s latest Human Rights Report, with renewed calls for more action to provide them with protection.
In its overview of child labour in the country, the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) expressed extreme concern at the situation of working children and their growing prominence.
According to the report, an estimated 50,000 impoverished children across the country make their way to work in difficult conditions every day, where they are exposed to a variety of hazards.
It noted that children between the ages of five and 16 work in a range of industrial vocations including auto repair shops, blacksmiths, carpenters and garbage collecting, a violation of both labour laws and international conventions to which the country is a signatory participart.
The NCHR said these children were exposed to “difficult, exhaustive and hazardous work environments”, with most facing work days that sometimes exceeded 10 hours without health insurance or protection.
Most earn between JD80-JD100 a month and do not receive overtime.
The report also said that most of these children are forced to work to help supplement their families’ income, with many dropping out of school to do so.
A recent study carried out by the Ministry of Labour showed some 6,000 students dropped out of the public school system last year to join the workforce.
Another study by the Ministry of Labour on the “Worst Forms of Child Labour” last year revealed that 13 per cent of children working in the Kingdom are subjected to forced labour, with over 16 per cent earning a meagre JD10-50 a month.
The national minimum wage is currently JD110 a month.
In its report, the NCHR also noted its concern regarding the lack of inspections carried out by ministry field inspectors to workplaces where children are employed.
According to the report, “labour inspectors were not carrying out inspections frequently nor diligently”. It noted that the lack of proper inspections failed to hold employers legally accountable.
The centre also cited the lack of a comprehensive survey identifying the number of children employed in the informal labour sector. It noted, however, that such a study was now under way by the Department of Statistics, the ministries of planning, social development and labour and other related institutions and the NCHR.
The statistical survey will focus on a larger range of child workers and include, for the first time, those working in agriculture and tourism.
Date: 10 April 2008
Source: Jordan
Times
