Police patrols to ‘immediately’ deport guest workers without papers — Zu’bi

AMMAN — There will be no additional grace period for guest workers to rectify their status, as the current period, ending on April 15, will not be extended, government officials said on Sunday.

The announcement was made during a meeting between Interior Minister Ghaleb Zu’bi and Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi to discuss the outcomes of the economic development committee’s recommendations, which were issued in October last year, on organising labour sector in the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting held at the Interior Ministry, Zu’bi highlighted his ministry’s “complete cooperation and coordination” with the Labour Ministry in organising foreign labour.

The ministry, through the Public Security Department, will intensify campaigns to check on the status of guest labourers, with police to patrol roads and traffic circles in order to take legal action against violating workers and deport them “immediately” if they do not have valid permits, Zu’bi said.

For his part, Ghezawi said that the government previously decided to give violating foreign workers a grace period to legalise their condition, noting that the decision was made in coordination with relevant ministers of labourers’ countries.

So far, around 450,000 guest workers have rectified their status during the grace period, Ghezawi noted.

Labour ministry departments across the Kingdom receive employers and workers daily between 8:30am and 5pm, including Saturdays, to encourage employers to legalise the status of their illegal guest workers.

Guest workers who want to leave the Kingdom will be exempted from 60 per cent of the work permit’s fees and any money due for previous years.