'First 10 months of 2019 witness 403 child labour cases in Jordan'

AMMAN — On the occasion of International Children's Day, which falls on November 20 each year, the Labour Ministry on Thursday announced that it dealt with 403 cases of child labour in the first 10 months of 2019.

The ministry carried out 6,325 inspection visits for child labour prevention across the Kingdom during the January-October period, the ministry said in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The visits during the first 10 months led to the documentation of 403 cases of child labour, 245 fines and the issuance of 271 warnings against employers of children under the legal working age, said Mohammad Khatib, the ministry's spokesperson.

In 2018, a total of 7,883 field inspections were conducted, resulting in 737 cases of child labour, 671 fines and the issuance of 625 warnings against employers of children, he added.

Jordan was among the first countries to endorse international agreements to safeguard children against economic exploitation, the statement added. The ministry established a child labour department in 1999, while in 2011 the Kingdom endorsed a national framework to fight child labour.

The Labour Law and other relevant pieces of legislation do not differentiate between guest and national workers in the case of child labour, the statement said, adding that children over 16 who work legally under special provisions are dealt with as workers, regardless of their gender or nationality.