AMMAN — A children’s rights draft bill has
enraged social media users on grounds that it encourages children to pick or
change their religion, which is widely seen as a violation of religious
teachings and a step towards destroying the Kingdom’s tightly-knit family
fabric.
اضافة اعلان
The 130-seat Lower House referred the
government-drafted bill to a joint committee, which includes the Women and
Family Affairs Committee and the Legal Committee. A majority of deputies voted
to refer the draft to the joint committee for deliberations and possible
alteration before it is back to the floor for legislation.
Sociologist Hussien Al-Khuzaie said that all the
articles contained in the draft children’s rights law for the year 2022 does
not serve children well. “In fact, they lead to the destruction of both the
family and children,” he told
Jordan News.
He said it allows children to “leave their homes,
incites lack of respect and obedience to parents, enhances independence and
isolation, and the freedom to do anything without consulting parents.”
“It revokes the role of the father, mother, and
family from caring for the child, since it allows children to take matters in
their own hands, even though they may be unable to do so, and cannot rely on
themselves to secure food, housing, or clothing,” Khuzaie said.
He explained that the draft “grants the children the
freedom of ‘movement and membership’ in recreational clubs, which are undefined
terms, and here lies the danger.”
He maintained that the vague jargon and other terms
stated in the bill “greatly destroys the family, and gives children the right
to rebel against their families.”
Despite the concern, lawmakers, human rights, and
children’s rights activists countered. They said the draft will enhance the
protection and care of children by regulating relations between public and
private entities concerned with children or charged with providing services to
them in accordance with the legislation in force.
In view of the Kingdom’s ratification of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child under the Law of Ratification of
Convention No. (50) Of 2006, it is necessary to take legislative,
administrative, and other appropriate measures to implement the rights,
recognized for children in this Convention, on the ground, experts contended.
MP Zainab Al-Bdoul told
Jordan News the
children’s rights draft confirms the state’s keenness to “develop the human
rights system” and underpins “its commitment to international conventions in
this context”.
“It enhances the concept of care and protection for children
and affirms its keenness to achieve growth, care and maturity for them in a
healthy, psychologically and physically safe environment, and directs more
attention to this category in all various fields,” she said.
Bdoul said that although the draft clashed with
other legislation, it “enables the relevant authorities to deal with and
implement legislation better and build the necessary programs to achieve the
provisions of that law.”
“The law needs some amendments that would implement
the concept of child protection and emphasizes the role of the family in
providing care and protection from all kinds of violence and harm”, she pointed
out.
MP Dina Al-Bashir told
Jordan News that the
draft law “is progressive and constitutes a comprehensive umbrella for
children, especially since children make up a third of our society, and
protecting them is our duty.”
Some children lack the necessary protection and basic rights, and this draft will protect them and give them the rights they lack.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had a direct impact on
children, as we noticed an increase in the percentage of violence, in its
various forms, against children, in addition to an increase in the percentage
of child labor and beggary,” she added.
She said that “we must guarantee children a healthy
and safe environment, and the provisions of this draft are in line with these
basic requirements.”
“This law respects values and customs in all its
articles and did not mention any deviation from religious teaching,” she said.
“Since the ratification of the Convention on the Children Rights agreements
many years ago, we did not notice any negative impact on the national fabric”.
She stressed the importance of “getting legal
information from reliable sources, especially amid the spread of false
information that is not even mentioned in the draft.”
Mohammad Al-Miqdadi, secretary-general of the
National Council for Family Affairs, told
Jordan News that the draft
“clarifies who are the parties obligated to provide rights to children, and
what the rights are.”
He explained that the draft also invests in children
and creates a beautiful, safe and healthy environment, “with provisions that
never conflict with other legislation and laws.”
“The provisions of the draft criminalized
neglecting, abusing, or exploiting children, and this is something we all agree
on. In addition, it stands with providing all children with health care and obligating
parents to give their children the right of education and proper nutrition”, he
added.
Miqdadi emphasized that people should not be
deceived and thus “we should choose the sources from which we receive
information”, or parts of the draft that could be misinterpreted.
In all cases, he stressed that “we must focus on the
positives of the draft, which I believe will be a victory for all children,
regardless of their social level.”
Nahla Al-Momani, a facilitator of the Protection
Commission at the National Center for Human Rights, said the draft law “does
not go beyond other laws, but rather conforms with them, especially with its
criminalization of violence and neglect of children, which is also punishable
by the Penal Code.”
She said that “protecting children is our duty, and
investing in childhood is an investment in the whole society”.
“Some children lack the necessary protection and
basic rights, and this draft will protect them and give them the rights they
lack,” she said. “If there were fundamental problems, the Parliament would not
have passed a law years ago after ratifying the Convention on the Rights of
Children.”
Kathem Al-Kufairi, head manager at the Family and
Child Protection Association, told
Jordan News that “this draft should
have been enacted a long time ago, especially since its existence is a national
need, especially with the development of life.”
He explained that “one of the most important
advantages of the draft law is to secure the health of children and oblige the
Ministry of Health to train and qualify cadres so that they can deal with
children, in addition to criminalizing bullying, especially with the spread of
bullying in schools amid the absence of deterrence.”
“I think that the draft law is a qualitative leap,
and I have not seen anything in it that contradicts our morals, or
legislation,” he said. “It is fully consistent with the general directives to
respect the rights of a child, while emphasizing not to negatively affect a
child’s identity, or religion.”
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