Challenges
In Za’atari camp, an estimated 3,300 children between the ages of 7 and 17 are engaged in child labour. Most work seven days a week outside the camp in agriculture or in shops inside the camp. In East Ammam, an area that is also home to many refugees, children also work in small shops, home-based businesses, small shops, car workshops, the recycling industry and domestic work.
The underlying causes of child labour in Jordan are poverty, lack of access to basic services and lack of awareness of children’s rights, including education. An additional challenge and major cause of child labour in these areas is the fact that many families are refugees in Za’atari camp and East Amman.
Increase in poverty due to an influx of refugees
Jordan has been a haven for Syrian refugees since 2011, when people began fleeing the political turmoil and armed violence in Syria in large numbers. It is home to more than 660,000 registered Syrian refugees, making it the third largest host country for Syrian refugees. More than half of these refugees are children. Jordan is also home to 63,000 Iraqi refugees (over 30 percent of them children) and over 2.1 million long-term registered Palestinian refugees.
Jordan’s economic situation has deteriorated as a result of the large influx of refugees over many years. Jordan has a high unemployment rate (around 18 per cent), especially among young people. Refugees living in Za’atari camp and East Amman face increasing insecurity due to shrinking incomes, rising prices and spiralling debt. Many parents and caregivers don’t have the knowledge, skills or documentation needed to work in the region. In recent years, food prices have skyrocketed and humanitarian funding for refugees in Jordan has decreased. As a result, families are resorting to negative coping strategies such as withdrawing children from school, sending children to work and forcing girls into early marriages. This means that poverty is one of the main causes of child labour in areas with large refugee populations, including East Amman and Za’atari camp. Between 2007 and 2016, the number of child labourers in Jordan more than doubled.
Lack of access to basic services such as education and health care for refugees
Children with refugee status are more likely to be involved in child labour because they and their parents or caregivers lack legal documentation. Without legal documentation, refugees in Jordan can’t access work permits and services like education and healthcare.
A child must have a birth certificate to enrol in school. However, many children in Za’atari camp and East Amman are undocumented, which means they cannot attend formal school. There are no proper systems in place to help these children get the right documents. We know that if a child cannot go to school, they are more likely to end up in child labour.
Without proper documentation, parents and caregivers cannot obtain work permits. Adults in Za’atari refugee camp are also not allowed to leave the camp due to their lack of official documentation. This means that families often rely on their children – who are allowed to leave the camp – to work outside the camp or to help generate income inside the camp. The lack of official documentation, causing a lack of access to basic services such as education and health care, makes families vulnerable and leads them to resort to child labour.
Lack of awareness of child rights at all levels
From community members to government ministries; prior to the WNCB programme interventions, there was a lack of awareness about child labour, rights, community projects and gender equality at all levels. Lack of awareness of children’s rights results in poor child protection systems and increased vulnerability to child labour.
The education system is an important ally of the child protection system; if children are not in school, the risk of child labour increases. However, before the programme, the link between education and child labour was unclear to community members, schools and government organisations. Working together to protect children was often weak or non-existent. This made it difficult to tackle child labour effectively.
In addition, social norms and gender inequality in communities created barriers to children attending school, especially for girls. Deeply rooted social norms mean that girls are often forced into child labour (especially domestic work) or child marriage. Awareness of children’s rights is key to overcoming these problems, which are partly the result of a lack of knowledge on the part of all stakeholders.
Lack of access to work and adequate income for parents and caregivers
In East Amman and Za’atari camp, there is a lack of access to work and adequate income for adults and parents. Over the years, Za’atari camp has become a permanent refugee settlement, with markets ranging from vegetable shops to bicycle repair shops, all run by refugees. However, only a small percentage of refugees of working age in Za’atari have work permits. As the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt in the Jordanian economy, the lack of employment opportunities for both refugees and Jordanians is leading more camp residents to engage in high-risk work or go into debt. As a result, families have to rely on their children to contribute to the family income, driving them into child labour.