An infant aged less than a month was found in front of a mosque in Amman’s Nazzal District on Monday morning, a security source announced.

The district is a neighbourhood located near the urban area of Downtown Amman; population density is high and residents are predominantly working class.

The foundling has been transferred to Al Bashir Hospital and according to the source, it is in good health. An investigation is ongoing in order to find the baby’s parents, the source added.

The infant will be referred to the Ministry of Social Development which will in turn place it in a state-sponsored orphanage until the age of 18 in the case the parents were not found.

The reasons behind the abandonment are still unknown but it is often assumed that children with unknown origins were born to unwed parents.

Even though Jordanian law allows such children to acquire the Jordanian nationality, the child’s national ID would indicate its status, which would expose them to social stigma and discrimination.

The same applies to children born to unmarried mothers as Article 20 of the Civil Status law stipulates that a written request by both parents is required in order to register a child born out of wedlock and that its name would be chosen by a notary rather than taking its father’s family name.

The law also puts mothers who give birth out of wedlock in precarious situation, as they face possible imprisonment, which the government justifies as being for their “protection,” and separation from their child, which might have prompted the act.