Pakistan is among the few countries in the world where slavery in the form of bonded labour exists even in the 21st century. A slavery index report, released by Walk Free Foundation in October 2013, placed Pakistan on top of the countries where slavery, including bonded and forced labour practices, are rampant.

One can contest the ranking accorded to Pakistan in this report; however, there is no denying the existence of bonded labour practices in the country because Pakistan has been accepting the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) technical assistance, to address this issue for several decades.

Like in many other countries, erosion of labour rights is on the rise in Pakistan, where lack of compliance with the eight Core Labour Standards is common, leave alone implementation of all the 36 ILO Conventions ratified by Pakistan.

Both global and domestic factors such as the absence of democracy and unfair trade practices have pushed trade unions to the margin. Only a tiny number (3 to 5 per cent) of the workforce is unionised.

In a developing country like Pakistan, where two-thirds of its population survives below the poverty line and a large number of workers are without any protection, bonded labour is likely to exist in many sectors of the economy. Specifically, a series of Rapid Assessments, jointly conducted by the Ministry of Labour and the ILO in 2003, identified the prevalence of bonded labour in sectors such as agriculture, brick kilns, carpet weaving, fisheries, mines, glass bangles and begging.

Since then, agriculture and brick kilns have remained the targets of state and non-state interventions, due to the nature and size of the work force in these two sectors.

According to the latest available data in Labour Force Survey 2010–11, of the 57 million labour force in the country, about 69 per cent or 39 million workers are living in rural areas and vulnerable to exploitation. Construction sector employees, including those in brick kilns, constitute about seven per cent of the labour force or four million people.

There is no official data available on the number of brick kilns and the workers in the industry in Pakistan; estimates suggest that there are more than 10,000 kilns in the country, employing thousands of workers.

Interestingly, the current debate and actions on the issue of bondage emanated from the brick-kiln sector because it was the complaints of bonded brick-kiln workers that moved the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1989 to declare compulsory work against peshgi (advances) as illegal and to ask the government to make laws to bring bondage to an end.

The Supreme Court directives were followed by the enactment of the Bonded Labour System Abolition (BLSA) Act in 1992, Bonded Labour rules in 1995, and a National Policy and Plan of Action in 2001.

Most of these positive steps have been inoperative since 2010, when the federal government handed over many related powers to provincial governments, after the 18th amendment was added to the Constitution of Pakistan. Provinces are yet to adopt bonded labour law, policy and plan of action.

However, even before the 18th amendment was passed, the bonded labour law and action plan had been rendered ineffective because not a single person was punished under the law, which was to provide imprisonment of 2–5 years, with a fine of Rs 50,000 or both, to any person who compelled anyone to render bonded labour or extracted bonded labour under any pretext.

On the other hand, reports of escapes and severe working conditions continued to surface in the media and a large number of bonded labourers have been released both from agriculture and brick kilns. “The severity of bonded labour has increased in the recent years rather than there being any decrease,” says Ghulam Fatima of Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF). BLLF helps release bonded brick kiln workers in Punjab province. “Kiln workers are the worst victims of bondage—male workers are exploited with harsh work and low payments, and the women are sexually abused too,” she added.

According to her, instances of bondage are increasing rather than decreasing in Pakistan. “Yes, there is more awareness now than before but bondage is on the rise because no systematic action is in place to counter this menace.”

Undoubtedly, the work at the kilns is harsh and exploitative in nature, and workers are compelled to accept all the terms and conditions of the kiln owners, including longer working hours and compulsory stays at the kiln site.

According to studies, the number of working days in brick kilns range between 240 and 260 in a year. Due to the seasonal nature of the work, the kiln is closed down during the monsoon and in periods of harsh weather. Because brick kiln workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, they lose earnings if the work site is closed for a day or a month. In this period of joblessness, workers are dependent on the kiln owners and take further loans and advances, to meet their financial needs, which are added to their already outstanding dues, and thus their debt increases further.

Thus, the nominal remuneration, earned through piece-rate work, is the primary reason for debt bondage in brick kilns. The loans taken to meet social event expenses (such as for the wedding or funeral of a family member) and regular credit to meet daily subsistence increases the outstanding amount; therefore, the workers are not able to clear their debts with such meagre earnings.

In 2013, workers are paid between Rs 500 to 700 for making 1,000 bricks, which is less than Rs 740 per 1,000 bricks, the official minimum piece rate.

Preparing 1,000 bricks is a daunting and lengthy process. There are many tasks performed at a kiln, the main task being brick-making. Usually, a family of four—wife, husband and two children—is involved; in other cases, the number of group members increases because it includes adult sons, daughters and daughters-in-law and sons-in-law.

On an average, an entire family, comprising four members—husband, wife and two children aged between 6 to 12 years—can make 1,000 to 1,500 bricks a day. They often work five days a week with one weekly holiday, followed by a day wasted in making mud for the next day`s work.

This work has no fixed limit. “Working hours of a kiln worker are longer—not less than 12 hours a day,” says Dolat Ali Mohsin, a kiln union activist from Faisalabad. “You have to wake up early in the morning and then there is no timing for going back,” he added.

Because the wages are on a piece-rate basis, there is not a single paid holiday, not even on official holidays such as Eid for Muslims, Diwali for Hindus or Christmas for Christian workers. Celebrating these holidays, and absence from work in case of illness or any other reason can reduce the earnings of a family, and compel it to take more loans.

The piece-rate nature of the work and the meagre earnings also compel the workers to push themselves to work more, to make more money and thus the work also becomes self-exploitative.

Despite the fact that brick kilns are a declared industry for a decade now, and all labour laws are applicable to kilns, hardly any brick kiln worker has benefited from labour welfare schemes such as the Employees Social Security Schemes, Employees Old Age Benefit Institution and Workers Welfare Fund. To draw benefits from these schemes, registration is mandatory. This requires endorsement from the owners, which has never materialised despite hectic efforts by civil society organisations and labour activists.

“The kiln owners’ attitude is the main hurdle in getting their kilns and workers registered,” says Dr Ghulam Hyder, Executive Director of Green Rural Development Organization (GRDO), operating from Hyderabad Sindh. “Even in some cases where workers have been registered, they are unable to get any benefit from these schemes,” he added.

In his view, the brick-making business is thriving as an informal economy without government taxes being paid; the owners of brick-kilns are afraid that by having their workers and businesses registered, they will come under the tax net.

Obviously, kiln workers can hardly afford any confrontation with employers because they depend on the latter for shelter and other basic needs, besides regularly seeking financial assistance in the form of credit.

Kiln workers are shelter-less, poor people, and a majority of them stay on the kiln site along with their families in small one-room quarters without any basic facilities. “There is no concept of toilets on the kiln sites; even women have to go to nearby fields to relieve themselves,” informs Dolit Ali Mohsin.

Kiln workers have many characteristics that increase their vulnerability to exploitation. In Punjab province, a large number of kiln workers are migrants from one district to another, and are both Muslims and Christians. In Sindh, there are local workers, but a number of them also migrant from other districts as well.

Women and children are an integral part of the labour in kilns and they belong to all ages. One can find a child as young as five years old and a man as old as 70 working in a kiln. Many of them do not exactly know their age, and they look much older than what they say. This can mainly be attributed to hard work and malnutrition, or they may not remember simply because of illiteracy.

Ironically, despite several interventions on the part of the government, civil society and the judiciary, there is little success in addressing the issue of bondage. The government has allocated a fund of around Rs 120 million for the release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers a decade ago. Though half of it has been shown as spent, and the remaining half is still lying with the central government, there has hardly been any impact from this fund.

Other government actions such as the formation of district Vigilance Committees and registration of brick kilns remain half-hearted in their implementation due to lack of concentrated effort and political will.

Civil society actors claim they have been able to create awareness and provide limited service delivery assistance to victims of labour bondage. They accept, however, that a lot more needs to be done to bring an end to bondage.

“Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have helped thousands of workers in their release and took up bondage issues,” says Dr. Hyder. “A few years ago, nobody was talking about bondage but now it is a well established issue so credit goes to the CSOs,” he claims.

Dr. Hyder notes that the CSOs and trade unions have come together on a platform known as the National Coalition against Bonded Labour (NCABL) and are committed to bringing bondage to an end.

Brick kiln owners accept that they pay advances to mortgage labour, but deny the existence of bonded labour in the kilns. “It’s merely propaganda of NGOs,” says Shoaib Khan Niazi, President of All Pakistan Brick Kiln Owners Association. “If you think giving loans to workers is bondage, then that`s there,” he added.

He claims that brick-kiln workers are not willing to work without advances, and that it is a norm in the industry for centuries, which is now being termed as bonded labour by NGOs. “Kilns cannot be equated with other industries and asked to comply with labour laws; as a business, this usually operates at a loss.”

Niazi may have a point in his argument, but the fact is that even in the latest orders, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the working conditions in brick kilns as bonded labour and ordered action on part of the government.

There cannot be any excuse to continue bondage. It is the 21st century, and bondage needs to be brought to an end. Experts believe that it is possible especially in the case of the brick kiln industry, provided serious and concentrated efforts are made by a collective group of stakeholders, which would include the state and non-state actors.