Jordan is a major destination for migrant workers, including tens of thousands of women employed as domestic workers. In a joint submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), the Global Detention Project (GDP) and our Jordan-based partner, Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, highlight the particular vulnerabilities faced by migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking women in the country.
Among the key concerns identified in the submission are:
- Migrant workers’ dependence on their employers: Jordan’s legislation ties migrant workers’ legal status to their employer, leaving workers vulnerable to detention and deportation if an employer fails to obtain or renew their work permit, or if they leave their employment—including to escape exploitative, abusive, or unsafe working conditions.
- Insufficient safeguards against detention: Jordanian legislation does not provide explicit safeguards against the detention of vulnerable persons, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and children.
- Confiscation of identity documents: Although Jordanian law criminalises the confiscation of passports, including under Article 18(b) of the 1969 Passport Law, inadequate enforcement has allowed some employers to continue confiscating domestic workers’ passports and other identification documents as a means of control, hindering workers’ ability to leave their employment–and leading some migrants to face situations of de facto detention.
- Inadequate detention conditions: Jordan does not operate dedicated immigration detention facilities. Instead, migrants are detained in police stations and prisons, known as Reform and Rehabilitation Centres, where conditions have been documented as inappropriate for immigration detainees. Concerns include inadequate access to clean water, overcrowding, limited access to hygiene and menstrual health products, and excessive restrictions on access to outdoor space.
