Foreign, local workers at odds in Jordan's labor market

Elisa Oddone

Jun 3, 2015

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY KAMAL TAHA
Men smoke water pipes at a cafe in the Jordanian capital Amman on February 3, 2014. A ban on water pipes in restaurants and cafes has caused uproar in Jordan where $1 billion worth of tobacco goes up in smoke every year. Under a decision based on a 2008 law that was not previously enforced, the government has announced that by the end of 2014 the licences of more than 5,000 establishments that serve hookahs will be revoked. AFP PHOTO/KHALIL MAZRAAWI (Photo credit s — Men smoke water pipes at a cafe in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Feb. 3, 2014. Some Syrian refugees have found jobs in cafes and other places, angering Jordanian job-seekers. — KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images

As the civil war drags on in their country, Syrian refugees in Jordan are left jobless or exploited in increasingly unwelcoming host communities across the kingdom.

Munir, who didn’t want his real name to be published, is a 20-year-old refugee from the southern Syrian city of Daraa who crossed into Jordan in 2012, where he has worked illegally ever since.

A job working 14-hour shifts in a cafe in Zarqa, 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Amman, has so far been his sole means of feeding his parents, two small sisters and a younger brother who was left unable to walk after a bullet struck his femur during a protest back in Syria.

“I earn seven Jordanian dinars a day [$10]. I don’t have a break, and eating a falafel sandwich is my only treat. My boss is kind but it is undeniable that I am exploited,” Munir told Al-Monitor.

Foreign, local workers at odds in Jordan's labor market

The unemployment rate among Jordanians is increasing, as Syrian refugees in Jordan are willing to work for longer hours and lower wages.

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