AMMAN — The
Lower House on Monday started discussing the amendments to the draft child rights law
for the year 2022, which was approved by the Joint Parliamentary Committee
(Legal, Women, and Family Affairs).
اضافة اعلان
Parliamentary
sessions have witnessed heated debates, consistent with the widespread
controversy the suggested child bill had already sparked in the Kingdom, with
advocates saying it protects children, and opponents claiming that its articles
contradict the teachings of the society.
The draft law
consists of 33 articles focusing on children’s personal rights, health,
education, living, traffic safety, protection from violence, and disability.
MP Abdul Rahim
Al-Maayah said “we hope that this law will protect the child; the dispute was
because everyone sees it from his own angle only.”
“There were some
flaws in the first draft of the law, but the Legal Committee has dealt with
them,” he said.
According to
Maayah, some MPs did not agree with the law, “considering that Islamic Sharia
is the only basis that determines how to deal with a child, and that certain
articles grant children absolute freedom, and this caused great concern”.
MP Tayseer Krishan
told
Jordan News that “this law was examined by the Legal Committee, and
specialists and experts were consulted to address certain articles.”
“Some amendments
were added to prevent violating the provisions of the Personal Status Law and
the traditions of society,” he added.
Social activist
Hala Ahed said that the recent amendments to the child protection law “are not
in the child’s interest, especially in matters related to education, health
insurance and dealing with addicts”.
According to her,
the text “is vague, and does not clearly obligate the government to bear its
responsibility toward the child”, which makes the government “the first
beneficiary of the current draft law”.
“The law in its
current form does not achieve child care, and deprives him of his rights,” she
added.
According to MP
Suleiman Abu Yahya, “the draft law, before the new amendment, was flawed and
not in favor of the child and the family, as it would harm the child’s morals
by giving absolute freedom of expression in writing, photography, and art.”
The new amendments,
he said, cover most articles; “each article of the law ends with stating that
it is not incompatible with traditions, social and religious heritage.”
Former secretary
general of the
Jordanian National Commission for Women Salma Nims told
Jordan
News that “the great uproar over the law lost the compass of discussion and
prevented its development,” adding that “the recent amendments to the law are
much less than expected.”
“They look at women
in a stereotypical way. For example, in the article related to the education of
children, which should be shared by both parents, the amendments indicated that
the expenses are the responsibility of the father,” she pointed out.
Former MP Rula
Al-Hroob told
Jordan News that “some of the recent amendments to the
child law were good, others were bad.”
“For example, in
the legal text related to education, the word ‘parents’ was canceled and
replaced with the child’s guardian, thus eliminating the mother from the process
of taking decisions related to the education of the child,” she said.
“There are nearly
a million expatriate fathers, and the mother is the one who takes care of the
children and makes the many decisions related to their education,” she
stressed.
She also said that
removing the article related to the child’s right to receive or request legal
assistance, at a time when many children are exposed to violence, “is wrong”.
“We want a law that
affirms the right of parents to raise and guide their children without harming
them,” she said.
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