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AMMAN - Border Guards received 187 Syrian refugees during the past 72 hours and sent them to shelters and camps, a military source told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Sunday. 

Royal Medical Services cadres provided healthcare services to the ill and injured, according to Petra. 

Out of some 1.4 million Syrians in Jordan, only around 633,466 are officially registered with the UNHCR as refugees. 

AMMAN — Israeli authorities on Thursday detained Jordanian engineer Thaer Hwaiti while on his way to visit relatives, according to the Jordan Engineers Association (JEA). “Israeli forces arrested the 24-year-old at the King Hussein Bridge and took him to a detention centre,” Anas Abu Khdeir, JEA media coordinator, told The Jordan Times Saturday.

No further information on Hwaiti’s condition was available, Abu Khdeir added. He noted that Hwaiti is an electrical engineer who has been working at an engineering firm since he graduated from Balqa Applied University’s Polytechnic Engineering College earlier this year.

The detainee holds a Jordanian identification number and is one of 25 Jordanians detained in Israel, including three other engineers: Abdullah Barghouthi, Abdullah Zeitawi and Manaf Jbara, said Abu Khadeir.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the JEA denounced Hwaiti’s detention and held Israeli authorities responsible for the engineer’s safety, urging the Foreign Ministry to act “quickly” and arrange for freeing the engineer. “We are in touch with Hawiti’s father, but he does not know anything about him,” said Abu Khdeir, adding that the International Commit-tee of the Red Cross does not have any information either.

The Foreign Ministry is in the process of obtaining information on Hwaiti’s case, according to its spokesperson, Sabah Rafie, who said she would get back to The Jordan Times once more information is available.

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Saturday called for differentiating between the performance of the Chamber as a national institution and the individual performance of MPs, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Speaking in an interview with Petra, Tarawneh urged the public to hold deputies accountable through the ballot box, stressing the importance of respecting the House’s role and its constitutional status in the Jordanian political system.

The speaker criticised some deputies for threatening a “motion of no confidence” against the government through the media and social media websites before submitting a memo to him and listing it in the official records of the House, noting that such actions have negative consequences.

He urged the media to perform its supervisory role on the government in the same degree it is practised on the House, noting that the media did not do the Chamber jus-tice, ignoring its achievements and efforts in persuading the government to refrain from increasing the price of gas cylinders and to lower vehicle licensing fees.

Tarawneh also criticised the exaggeration of MPs travel expenses, noting that the House’s budget is JD11.5 million, including the salaries of the deputies and workers, and travel costs. He described it as a “modest” budget that is less than those of many other government institutions.

Tarawneh reviewed diplomatic parliamentary achievements, as Jordan heads three committees in the Inter-Parliamentary Union that includes 166 nations and heads the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, in addition to other parliamentary entities. He said the 17th House approved 139 draft and temporary laws in 62 sessions with a ratio of three sessions per week

AMMAN — Credible and objective media coverage plays a major role in the successful adoption and implementation of policies aimed at achieving economic progress, economists and media figures have agreed.

The issue was dis-cussed during a work-shop organised Thurs-day by Imdad Media Centre (IMC) in cooperation with the Jordan In-vestment Commission. IMC Director Nabil Al Sharif told The Jordan Times that the rapid growth of media outlets in recent decades has made the sector more vital to the success of economic development.

“Sustainable economic development and growth are issues which the media plays an important role in, but the media has to observe objectivity and credibility in delivering information to the public,” the former minister of media affairs said. On the other hand, Sharif said experts and officials concerned with finance, business and other related fields should make sure that reporters have acess to “accurate, clear and comprehensive information”.

Investment Commission President Montaser Oklah said at the opening of the work-shop that the government took qualitative leaps to attract local and foreign investments by facilitating registration and licensing procedures, and eliminating red tape.

“We believe in the role of responsible media in helping us attract investors,” said Oklah, adding that at some point media outlets compromised accuracy and objectivity to win scoops. Al Rai’s economic columnist Issam Qadamani, said the media’s role is not to attract investments, but to report decisions and information provided by officials.

“If you want to truly engage and build a national economy, it’s time to let go of old paradigms that include withholding in-formation and limited transparency.” Zayyan Zawaneh, an economist and banker, told The Jordan Times that investments are necessary to combat unemployment, “and here comes the need to invest in and empower enlightened media bodies, and provide them with better access to information.”

AMMAN — Poland sees Jordan as an important partner in the Middle East and is keen to cooperate with it in a new way on development projects, a senior Polish official said last week. During a visit to the Kingdom last Wednesday, Joanna Wronecka, Poland’s deputy foreign minister said her visit along with a Polish delegation is “a real opening with Jordan as an important partner in the Middle East”. She added that the visit is the first organised by the new polish government to an Arab country.

“This is a clear political message that Jordan is important for us because we appreciate the way your country manages political foreign policy, and the role Jordan is playing in the Middle East” especially during its presence in the UN Security Council. In an interview with The Jordan Times, Wronecka revealed that her country has allocated a special budget to support Jordan in 2016.

“In our budget project for next year, we have a special budget for Jordan of about 2 million Polish zloty [0.5 million euros]… It [has] never happened before,” the official added, noting that before her country, through the Polish embassy in Am-man, implemented 18 small projects in the Kingdom.

However, now “we have the opportunity to think in a more constructive way on sustainability to offer something useful for Jordan,” she said. Wronecka explained that the embassy has been involved in small projects and small grants in Jordan since 2007, even “before the Syrian crisis, but now we focus on the educational system to help Jordanian authorities dealing with the issue of Syrian children… helping schools”.

During her one-day visit, the Polish deputy FM inaugurated two facilities financed under Polish development aid. One of these projects is a playground at a primary school in Ramtha, while the second is a clinic in Mafraq whose equipment was financed by Poland.

Commenting on military cooperation be-tween the two countries and Poland’s role in combating terror-ism, Wronecka said: “We hope to be in close dialogue and exchange of information with Jordan.” “There are opportunities, but we need to work in different fields… The role of Jordan in this coalition [against terrorism] is important; we count on you and we can also offer our expertise and exchange of information,” she noted.

As a member of the European Union, “we take part in the discussion, especially after the terrorist attacks in France… we are also now discussing how we can be more efficient; we are ready for a new kind of cooperation, and hope Poland can bring [its] expertise,” the official noted.

Turning to Poland’s commitment to receive 7,000 Syrian refugees, Wronecka said her country is a credible partner and the government will honour the agreement, “but we would like also to help more and more on the ground… we are increasing our contributions to different international bodies and organisations in charge of [the] refugee issue”.

AMMAN — Despite efforts to improve Jordanian laws and policies pertaining to labour and workers’ rights, some gaps in these laws are being used to practise “forced labour” in the Kingdom, said a report released on Saturday.

In the report, titled “Forced Labour in Jordan”, the Phenix Centre for Economic and Informatics Studies recommended including a definition of “forced labour” in the Labour Law in line with international conventions.

The International Labour Organisation’s Forced Labour Convention Number 29 for the year 1930 defines forced labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”.

According to the Phenix Centre report developed in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, there should be amendments to the national law to ensure that practising “forced labour” is criminalised. The report also recommended amending Article 58 of the law concerning weekly working hours and including excluded jobs within the provisions of the law.

Article 58 of the Labour Law stipulates that:“The provisions of articles pertaining to the working hours provided for in this law shall not be valid towards the persons who assume the functions of general supervision or ad-ministration in any establishment and who work in some cases outside the Establishment or whose jobs require travelling or mobility within the Kingdom or abroad.”

According to the report, confiscating passports of workers should be criminalised instead of being considered a “violation”. This practice, it said, pro-vides an environment conducive to forced labour. “There are many practices that can be classified as forced labour in Jordan,” said Ahmad Awad, director of the Phoenix Centre. Some of these practices, he added, are the recur-rent delay of wages and paying workers less than the minimum wage.

In addition, Awad noted that some employers force employees to pay the “full social security subscription, without contributing to it”. Other practices include forcing workers to work overtime without paying them for the extra work they do. The report also added that migrant workers are the most vulnerable for such practices.

Thus, it recommended amending regulations related to recruiting mi-grant workers to give them more independence and the possibility of changing their workplace. According to the ILO website, although forced labour is universally condemned, the organisation’s estimates show that 20.9 million people around the world are still subjected to it.

Of the total number of victims of forced labour, 18.7 million (90 per cent) are exploited in the private economy, by individuals or enterprises, and the remaining 2.2 million (10 per cent) are in state- imposed forms of forced labour.

Among those exploited by private individuals or enterprises, 4.5 million (22 per cent) are victims of forced sexual exploitation and 14.2 million (68 per cent) of forced labour exploitation.

Forced labour in the private economy generates $150 billion in illegal prof-its per year; two-thirds of the estimated total (or $99 billion) comes from commercial sexual exploitation, while another $51 billion results from forced economic exploitation, including domestic work, agriculture and other economic activities.

PAFOS, Cyprus –– A Jordanian delegation of tourist agents, media outlets, and Royal Jordanian (RJ) airline personnel spent three days last week in the coastal city of Pafos, touring its attractions and hotels to further boost and increase cooperation between Cyprus and Jordan. The invitation came from Pafos Regional Board of Tourism (PRBT) in cooperation with Royal Tours and RJ airlines.

The 17-member delegation spent one day in Larnaca and two days in Pafos touring attractions there. The head of the delegation, Sana Tadros, said Pafos was introduced as a new destination to Jordanian tourist agents, and "we found that it has a lot to offer.” In Amman earlier last month, Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji and Pafos Mayor Phedon Phedonos signed a twinning agreement to enhance cooperation.

Among the places the delegation visited were Saint Neophytos Monastery, Aphrodite Spa, archaeological parks, a mediaeval castle, the old town and the beach front. Mayor Phedonos told the delegation at a meeting that the campaign to promote this Mediterranean town is not restricted to official cooperation, but also includes efforts to reach out to the people, relying on a history ex-tending over 3,000 years between the two nations.

“We need to focus on enhancing the historical relationship between the two countries and not only economic ties, since Jordan is the gate-way to the entire Arab world, while Cyprus is the bridge to Europe," he said. Pafos, which lies in the southwest of Cyprus and is the capital of Paphos District, is famous for its fine mosaics, and known as the place Paul the Apostle visited during the 1st century AD.

Nasos Hadjigeorgiou, PRBT executive manager, told The Jordan Times that the visit aimed to give the delegation an idea about Pafos and what it has to offer. He said 600 Jordanians visit Pafos annu-ally during May through September. “We believe that this number is not enough due to the lack of incentives and promotion, as well as the high [air] fare of RJ,” said Hadjigeorgiou, stressing that expectations are high after the Jordanian visit.

“We expect a better re-lationship between tour agencies and hoteliers from both sides, not only during summer times but all year long since Pafos is a good destination for athletic tourism, short-break visits, and conferences.” He added that in Pafos, there are four golf courses, sports centres, Olympic size swimming pools and a football field, in addition to the "best quality sea water, the cleanest in the Eastern Mediterranean”.

Salem Odeh, managing director of Golden Crown Tours, said the Cypriots are "generous and kind people", which is an asset for the island's promotion efforts. He added that there is great potential for the two countries to focus on religious tourism since both have many religious sites mentioned in the Bible. Odeh said the one thing missing in the trip was meeting and talking to Cypriot agents in order to share ideas.

AMMAN — Implementation of a 50 million euro project to install new water and waste-water networks in the capital's northern parts will commence next year, government officials said Saturday.

Under the three-phase project, new water and wastewater pipes and networks will be extended in the Sha-fa Badran and Yajouz areas to improve water supply to over 100,000 people and protect the areas' springs and underground water from pollution, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

Nasser noted that the ministry secured the cost of the project via a soft loan from the German Development Bank (KfW). An official at the ministry, who preferred to remain unnamed, said the ministry will float the project's tender on Sunday.

"The ministry will announce the project's tender in local newspapers on Sunday. Implementation is expected to start during the second quarter of 2016, while the three-phase project is scheduled to end in 2020," the official told The Jordan Times.

In the statement, Nasser also said that studies are under way to shut down and relocate the Abu Nseir wastewater treatment plant in the north of the capital. He added that a main wastewater carrier will be extended soon to con-vey 4,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day to the treatment plant west of Zarqa, which will later pump sewage to As Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant.

"A total of 64 per cent of the population is linked to the sewerage network. The ministry's national plan seeks to raise the number of people linked to the sewer-age network to more than 70 per cent before the year 2020," Nasser said.

AMMAN — Two people died on Saturday of gas inhalation from a heater inside their home in Mafraq, according to the CivilDefence Department (CDD).

Mafraq CDD personnel administered first aid to the injured be-fore transferring them to hospital where they were pronounced dead. A source from the CDD's media department told The Jordan Times that the deceased were a newlywed couple.

"The deceased were a 25-year-old groom and his 23-year-old bride," the source said, adding that they were Jordanian. On Thursday, the CDD said two Syrians died of gas inhalation from a heater in their house in Ramtha, some 90km north of Amman.

The CDD urged the public to be careful when dealing with different kinds of heaters and not to sleep while they are on to avoid such incidents. In remarks to The Jordan Times earlier this month, CDD Media Di-rector Brig. Gen. Farid Sharaa said 23 people died and 307 were injured around Jordan last winter due to heater-related incidents.

He urged the public not to keep kerosene and gas heaters on for long periods, to ventilate their homes, and to make sure the hose connected to the gas cylinder is attached correctly and is not worn out. Sharaa stressed the importance of not relying on children to re-place gas cylinders and of keeping the heaters away from small rooms, such as kitchens and bedrooms, noting that the stairwell is the best area to place them.

AMMAN — Twelve guest workers who were reportedly victims of human trafficking were repatriated on Saturday upon their request, the Social Development Ministry said Saturday. The workers in question decided to leave Jordan after filing law-suits against those who violated their rights, said the ministry's spokesperson, Fawaz Ratrout, who did not reveal the nationality of the deported labourers.

"Voluntary deportation is an option the ministry is committed to granting to guest workers who are victims of human trafficking. This is a process that is applied world-wide," he told The Jordan Times. The workers were re-siding in a government- owned shelter that was established a year ago to protect human trafficking victims.

"The shelter received 46 cases in three months," Ratrout said. In previous remarks, Minister of Social Development Reem Abu Hassan said the government shelter will officially open early next year to house human trafficking victims in Jordan.

The minister said the shelter was named Karamah, “which means dignity in English to ensure the well-being of human trafficking victims in Jordan”. The number of human trafficking cases in the Kingdom increased from 92 in 2013 to 165 in 2014, Labour Minister Nidal Katamine said in March, expecting the number to gradually decrease due to procedures being taken to curb the phenomenon.

Abu Hassan said the shelter, which is housed in an old building be-longing to her ministry that was refurbished, has been divided into three sections — for men, women and children. The shelter can house up to 50 individuals and is located in the Jofeh suburb in east Amman, added Abu Hassan.

The Kingdom has ratified several international agreements related to human trafficking, such as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially in Women and Children, which is part of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. In addition, Jordan has adopted a national strategy to combat human trafficking, which focuses on prevention, protection, law enforcement and international cooperation to eradicate the phenomenon.