The government of Jordan has put on hold the recruitment of domestic helpers from Ghana for health reasons.
According to the Jordan Times, this decision was made after about thirty Ghanaian domestic helpers from Ghana tested HIV positive.
The spokesperson of the Jordananian Ministry of Health Hatem Azrui, said they had to preserve the health of their citizens first. He also added that the test was done in the first seven months of 2016.
“Those were tested in Ghana before coming to Jordan. They brought health certificates with them proving that they are free from HIV and other diseases, but we conducted our own tests to make sure.”
“We are in the process of looking into accrediting some certified labs in Ghana to conduct the required tests for domestic helpers wishing to come to Jordan,” he added.
He said due to the current situation they will continue to screen all domestic helpers who have been brought to Jordan to work.
A report by Sisterhood is global suggests that the largest number of domestic helpers in Jordan are from the Philippines (15,636), followed by Sri Lanka (3,742) and then Indonesia (1,233).
Jordan opened the door to the recruitment of domestic helpers from Ghana, among other countries, in 2015 to meet the rising demand.
