Child labor increases in Jordan amid refugee influx

AMMAN, Jordan — Fourteen-year-old Abdullah said he worked almost every day at a vegetable market in the city center of Amman to help support his family.

The teenager, who has four siblings and lives in Hai Nazzal in Amman, goes to school but still needs to earn money to help his family.

Abdullah said he was forced to work as his father died a few years ago and the family relies on him and on the aid they receive from charities.

“I make sometimes 5 dinars ($7) per day and sometimes less. No matter how much I make this is important for me to help my family and my little brothers,” Abdullah said.

He is among thousands of children who work in Jordan to help support their families.

As the world marks the World Day Against Child Labor on Monday, figures by the Department of Statistics in Jordan indicated that there are 75,000 children who work in the country.

“The main reasons for child labor in Jordan is poverty ... This phenomenon has increased after the influx of Syrian refugees,” economist Hosam Ayesh said.

“There is a need for more efforts in Jordan to combat child labor as those who work rarely return to school and thus they lose their future and we end up having lost generations.”

According to figures from the United Nations, there are about 168 million children who work across the world.

“We need swift interventions and programs to help the needy families as poverty is what drives parents to make their kids leave school and start working and earning money to make ends meet,” Ayesh said.

The economist said there are serious psychological, physical and social impacts that affect working children.

Although Jordan has taken many steps and launched many strategies to combat child labor, more needs to be done, especially after the increase in the phenomenon after the Syrian crisis.

Since 2011 to date, more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees entered Jordan.

“Child labor is a serious issue as children face many violations at the workplace and this needs to come to an end,” Ayesh said.