صعوبات اندماج العاملات المهاجرات في المجتمع الأردني

My name is Yasmin, my age is 24, thank God. My name is Yasmin. I am 24 years old, thank God. I am a domestic worker. Migrant workers are employed from abroad. Many different nationalities are available in Jordan, about six nationalities used for work inside Jordanian homes. The homeowner, whether Jordanian or a resident of the Kingdom, has the right to bring in a worker to work inside the home. The worker's rights in our country are very clear, transparent, and frank and exist in Jordan. She has eight working hours. She has rights. She has her own room for accommodation. She has her own private bathroom. She is entitled to her salary on the first of every month, or at most seven days after the first month. She has a paid annual leave of two weeks in the first year and the second year. It was important to find a migrant worker who has the ability to speak Arabic easily. In addition, many employers refuse to allow workers to speak in front of the camera. However, we were able to find a Filipino worker who was able to integrate into Jordanian society after many years of her work, as Tirli has been residing in Jordan for about ten years after working in Lebanon as a domestic worker for several years. I am Shirley, Filipino, 36 years old. I learned Arabic in Lebanon from 2011 to 2006, and then I came to Amman in 2015. I am currently working in a salon, and currently, my time is when I go out. For example, I have a day off, meaning I go out with my friends. We go to gardens, we go to Aqaba, we go wherever we want. But currently, from Monday to Saturday, I work from 10 AM to 7 PM. After that, we can go out and have fun wherever we want. Tirli compares the ability of Asian and African migrant workers to integrate into Jordanian society and Lebanese society. In Lebanon, we go, Lebanon is all about going out with our friends on Sundays, going to the mall, having fun, and having a good life. It's not like Amman. In Amman, even if you are working, you are not allowed to move because they are afraid of friends and girls who are in security. It's not like Jordan, it's not like Lebanon, because Lebanon is easy. You go to church, have fun with your friends, go to the sea. It's a different life from Amman. Al-Absi summarizes for us the reasons for the difficulty of integrating migrant workers in Jordan by not allowing homeowners to let the worker go out of the house for recreation, for fear of meeting bad friends or committing legal violations that could bring a lot of trouble to the employer. We are a conservative country and a generous people, honestly. Our customs and traditions in Jordan do not allow the worker to go out to rest areas that she considers a rest for her or a weekend, which are, in parentheses, nighttime activities in Amman, such as discos or nightclubs. In addition, who is the person she will meet there? Who will she get to know? Are they ex-convicts, people with prior offenses, theft cases, drug cases? Sexual relations might occur. The worker bears it. We do not accept in Jordan that the worker goes out to an external party. No one accepts it. Our customs do not accept it. Their customs might not have a problem with it in their countries. It is a normal situation for us. Therefore, the Jordanian citizen prefers to pay the two weeks of leave in cash and not get into trouble and go out of the house and external relationships that will be 100% suspicious. It will definitely be suspicious. She will not go out to a place that is... certainly, there will be other workers, some of whom may be fugitives who have changed their place of work, some of whom may have cases against them, some of whom may have theft cases and are fugitives. Therefore, our Jordanian citizen likes to preserve his home because this is a home, a family, and dignity. You know that no one accepts these things to be violated. Despite Tirli's relative success in integrating into Jordanian society, unlike most migrant workers who remain restricted in movement within the employer's home, she recounts some instances of discrimination she sometimes faces. Secondly, Lebanon is better than Amman because people in Lebanon laugh, and here they say, "Hello, how are you?" and things like that. But Amman is okay. Amman is very nice, a nice atmosphere, but it depends on where you work. For example, you want to go to the mall, to a branded store, or you want to buy your things. People tell you, "You always have money." I, for example, I am Filipino, I consider myself. I don't know Arabic. And then they look at you from top to bottom. They say, "Where are you from?" I think to myself, "I don't understand." They think I don't understand Arabic. I speak by chance, and things like that. They say, "Oh, this is expensive. Why don't we have money to buy expensive things?" Is that right or not? Secondly, for example, you are standing in the street, and people stop you. "Where are you going? I'll take you." In Lebanon, I haven't experienced this. This discussion in Amman is a lot, but I don't know. Actually, we Filipinos, or with everyone, no. There are many Filipinos here, not just Filipinos. There are Ghanaians, Ethiopians, who don't have papers and are working. But it's said that, for example, they take 250, but some Filipinos take 500, but without legality. But some people here, for example, the madam doesn't give them. She's their mother. Papers. After a month, they are fired. They don't get money. They don't send money because the girl cannot go to the police. There is no such thing. Mostly, it's a lot, not a little. You are afraid. Where do you go? To the police station. Many employers have spoken about the need to train migrant workers before they come to Jordan to develop their ability to perform tasks, in addition to raising their level of Arabic communication skills to understand the specifics of Arab culture. Professor Al-Absi spoke to us about the reality of training migrant domestic workers. We have different customs from their customs. They are informed and educated that this country they are going to is a conservative country. You should not go to certain places or deal with certain people. Sleeping has its way, and life, clothing, eating all have their ways. We teach them this. Arabic language is taught inside the home. Any normal person living with a family for two, three, or four months will have to speak the language of the family of the homeowners and understand each other and learn the language. Most workers, within three or four months at most, speak Arabic with the accent of the homeowner. If the homeowner is Bedouin, they learn Bedouin. If they are urban, they speak urban. They learn the accent they are in inside the house. I learned Arabic in Lebanon because I was taking care of young children at home, and they were speaking to me in English. Here, they speak to me in Arabic. I have friends, Jordanian friends, mostly. For example, two months ago, their sister had a party. My friends and I went to see the party. How are the Jordanians? We enjoyed it. The integration is weak, which has led some workers to leave their place of work without informing the employer and to live in neighborhoods in the center of the capital, Amman, which have become designated for migrant labor that does not carry identification papers and has not regularized its legal status. Professor Al-Absi blamed the Ministry of Labor, demanding strict measures to regulate this sector. Many workers have run away. Many theft cases. They steal and run away. Many workers have been subjected to abuse inside the home and are forced to run away. Many workers are present in the country. Approximately 20 to 30 thousand workers enter annually. At least 60 thousand workers reside in the country legally, and the number of illegal workers, God knows how many, ranges between 10 to 20 thousand workers. Different Asian nationalities, unfortunately, there are areas named with Asian names without mentioning names. There is an encroachment by some embassies supporting the worker in error. The Ministry of Labor should either hand over the file to the Ministry of Interior or find legislation that protects the rights of the Jordanian citizen first, who is the employer of this service, and protects the rights of the expatriate on the land of the country, and regulates the relationship between all parties. Many employers and recruitment agencies agree that the migrant domestic worker's place is the home where she works and lives, and it is not necessary for her to integrate into society. However, the weak training of workers and their lack of awareness of their rights hinder their ability to integrate into society, which leaves many questions about the nature and future of the relationships between migrant workers and Jordanian society.