EGYPTIAN LABOUR MIGRATION IN JORDAN
Abstract
Over the past forty years, the situation of the Egyptian labour market has not improved and remains to be the principal factor determining labour migration. In the past decade, creation of job opportunities has lagged behind labour force growth, which has led many to resort to migrating. According to the Egyptian Population Census (2017), the total Egyptian migration amounted to 9.5 million, compared to 4.4 million in 2015 with Saudi Arabia and Jordan being the main countries of destination. This report tackles the current situation of Egyptian labour migration in one of its major Arab destinations, Jordan. The figure announced for Jordan was 1.2 million. On another front, the Syrian crisis in 2011 has generated millions of refugees. Jordan is among the major countries hosting Syrian refugees. Among these refugees are hundreds of thousands of workers who have necessarily affected the Jordanian labour market and may have affected the demand for Egyptian migrant workers. In addition to the demand, the terms and conditions of Egyptian workers employment may have been affected by the excess labour supply, the low wages and long working hours accepted by refugee workers out of necessity.