The Government of Jordan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore, Jordan remained on Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts by assisting an increased number of victims in , compared to the previous year, including providing services at a shelter dedicated to victims of all forms of trafficking, including men, women, and children.
It made efforts to improve implementation of a national victim referral mechanism for authorities to systematically identify and refer victims to protection services. The government also continued to work in cooperation with NGOs and international organizations to investigate potential trafficking crimes, identify and protect trafficking victims, and train officials. The government demonstrated continued strong efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in a few key areas. In particular, under Jordan's anti-trafficking law, penalties for some trafficking offenses are neither sufficiently stringent nor commensurate with other grave crimes. During the reporting period, the government sought to improve this weakness and drafted amendments to the penal code to strengthen available sentences for trafficking offenses; these draft provisions remained pending review at the end of the reporting period.
Additionally, victims continued to be vulnerable to arrest and imprisonment for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, such as immigration violations, while government efforts to identify potential trafficking victims among those in detention remained weak. The government maintained robust anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.
The anti-human trafficking law criminalizes all forms of sex and labor trafficking. Penalties of less than one year imprisonment are not sufficiently stringent, and by allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed punishment is not commensurate with those for other serious crime, such as rape.
