Cash-strapped and struggling to care for his two disabled children, Mohammad Sabha from Jordan took out a loan.

Now he fears ending up in a Jordanian prison because he cannot repay it.

He would join thousands already behind bars for similar infractions in the Kingdom, where debt law is described as "draconian and disproportionally punishes the poor" by AFP.

Sobha had to take out loans in order to treat his sick son and daughter, but today he fears that he will end up in prison because of his inability to pay his debts in a country where failure to pay the debt, even if it is small, is punishable by imprisonment, and where only public sector employees are entitled to and retirees with health insurance.

"I took loans, borrowed money for the treatment of my children. The treatment of my children is expensive, costing me more than five thousand dinars annually. This is all from my own account. My income does not cover the obligations, the rent of the house, the food and drink and the treatment, so I had to resort to loans," said Sobha.

Failure to pay debts is punishable by up to 90 days in prison for each debt, and up to one year for a bounced check.

Musa Al-Saket, a Jordanian economist said, "The file of defaulters and the controversy of imprisoning the debtor is almost one of the most important economic issues, as today there are more than one million people in default, with amounts exceeding JD two billion."

Also, there are more than 130,000 cases before the courts.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that more than a quarter of a million Jordanians are currently facing complaints of non-payment of their debts.

Amjad Al-Asali, a merchant said, "In the year 2020, I was subjected to the last blow, through two checks that cost JD 7,000, and I was imprisoned because of them, and I did not have the money, so I decided to serve the sentence in prison."

Asali continued, "My rental contract had expired, and the owner of the king negotiated and settled and paid seven thousand to get me out of prison in exchange for leaving the shop."

And the Jordanian government decided at the end of March to postpone the implementation of the decisions to imprison the debtor until the end of this year, provided that the total sums due from him do not exceed JD 100,000 (141,000 dollars), “taking into account the financial and economic conditions resulting from the epidemic.”