In December 2023, it was reported by The News Minute that workers at the garment company Aseel Universal Garments in Jordan was refusing to settle workers’ dues and was ‘illegally retaining them’, among other rights violations.

The impacted workers include 69 Indian migrants, many of whom had become undocumented after the company failed to renew their visas or book return flights for the workers. The company allegedly failed to pay the workers even after a labour court in Jordan ruled in the workers’ favour in November 2023.

The company shut operations in 2023. After this, accommodation and food provided by the company has ‘dropped to substandard levels’ for the workers, including a lack of access to food, water and electricity.

In January 2024, it was reported that over 100 Indian workers protested due to the continued non-payment of wages, now owed for two years, and lack of power or water at the accommodation. The report notes the company also employed workers from Nepal and Sri Lanka.

In February 2024, it was reported Sri Lankan migrant workers employed by the company had been repatriated to Sri Lanka. The article notes the workers had no warning of the closure. The article also names another second factory, High Apparel, closed without prior notice to the employees, also impacting Sri Lankan workers.

[The Resource Centre was not able to contact Aseel Universal Garments or High Apparel to invite a response to the allegations; if a response is received in future this page will be updated accordingly.]