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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Jordan (RATIFICATION: 2000)

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Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a).Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, according to which the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit is in charge of applying section 3 of the Human Trafficking Act, 2009. When the victim of trafficking is a child, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit investigates the potential case confidentially within special rooms and in the presence of the probation officer who is assigned to children. Furthermore, the entire case is monitored, from the moment that it is first known about, right through to the moment when a judgment concerning it is delivered. The Committee also takes note of the new Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 10 of 2021, which prohibits the sale and trafficking of persons, including children. Under section 9(a), anyone who sells, procures, offers, or promises to sell a person under the age of 18 is liable to a term of no less than seven years’ imprisonment with hard labour and a fine ranging between 5,000 (approximately US$7,000) and 20,000 (approximately US$28,000) Jordanian dinars. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the Human Trafficking Act, 2009, and of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 10 of 2021, as concerns the trafficking of children for labour or sexual exploitation. On other issues related to the prohibition of trafficking, the Committee refers to its outstanding comments under the Forced Labour Convention, 1931 (No. 29).

Forced labour. Begging. The Committee notes the Government’s information that, under the Control of Juvenile Conduct Act of 2006, persons who exploit a juvenile by using him or her in an act of begging are liable to punishment by law. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of this Act, in particular as regards cases where persons have been penalized for using a child to beg in the streets.

Article 7(2).Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Dar Karama shelter, which provides legal and social support, medical assistance, training programmes and psychological rehabilitation for victims of trafficking, continues to be operational. Two child victims of trafficking were taken in and rehabilitated in 2020, five child victims in 2021, and six in 2022. Furthermore, the Committee takes note of the adoption of the National Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent Human Trafficking 2019–22 (NSAP), which contains well-rounded components and objectives ranging from measures aiming to reduce vulnerability to trafficking and ensuring early victim identification, to others aiming to reinforce law enforcement capacities and improve international cooperation. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have been rescued and rehabilitated through the Dar Karama shelter, as well as through the measures implemented in the framework of the NSAP.