220,000 Syrians join Kingdom’s labour force — minister

AMMAN — Labour Minister Nidal Katamine on Tuesday said around 220,000 Syrians entered regulated and non-regulated sectors of Jordan’s labour market as a result of the Syrian crisis. 

He made the remark in a lecture at the Royal Jordanian Command and Staff College, during which he outlined the ministry's policy to mitigate the adverse impact of unemployment on Jordanians. 

Katamine noted that consecutive waves of migration into the Kingdom from neighbouring countries, most recently from Syria, augmented the problem, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

He emphasised the measures taken to regulate the labour market for guest workers in a manner that contributes to securing the available jobs for Jordanians.  

He also underlined steps to be taken soon to regulate domestic helpers’ employment to guarantee the rights of employers should a domestic worker escape from his or her workplace for any reason, according to the minister.  

The minister also shed light on the legal process that the ministry is currently following to examine the question of whether or not to raise the minimum wage, pointing out that this is related to the results of an ongoing in-depth study by a technical committee comprising government representatives, workers and business owners.