It is ten years since Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared bonded labor to be unconstitutional and took the first steps to abolish it. It is almost seven years since the National Assembly passed a law formally abolishing bonded labour and prohibiting the practice, and four years since the publication of the official “Rules” outlining how the law was to be implemented. Bonded labor, or “debt bondage” as it is labelled at international level, is a practice condemned by the United Nations as “similar to slavery” and consequently a violation of Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is considered by the International Labor Organization (ILO) to constitute forced labour and to be a violation of the ILO’s Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour.
In the days and months after the Supreme Court’s judgment of 1989, tens of thousands of bonded laborers in Pakistan’s brick kilns left the jobs which they had been doing as a result of the pressure of debt bondage. Progress was swift and it seemed that the millions of people reported to be held in debt bondage in the country would soon be free.
However, in 1999 we are obliged to conclude that, despite temporary progress following the Supreme Court’s judgment, debt bondage remains both widespread and virtually unchallenged by the Government of Pakistan. Indeed, it is both remarkable and tragic how little government officials have been willing to do to enforce the country’s laws and to bring an end to debt bondage, and how willingly they appear to tolerate its persistence.
In many cases it is entire families which are bonded in Pakistan. Of course, there are specific cases of children being pledged or bonded in return for loans to their parent(s) or guardian, notably in the carpet industry and in agriculture. The way the children are absorbed and obliged to work varies, but as a matter of routine the children of bonded families do not attend school, but start helping their parents work as soon as they reach school age, if not before.

Brick kilns in Punjab

In the brick kilns of Punjab, in which bonded labourers were the particular focus of the Supreme Court’s 1989 judgment, workers continue to be bonded by debt as a matter of routine, even though conditions of work have in many cases improved and there are fewer reports of the physical abuse of bonded labourers than in the past. Over the past year there have been a series of court cases in which the courts have ordered the release of bonded brick kiln workers.
While bonded Labour exists throughout Sindh Province, the majority of those bonded in the north belong to the Muslim majority, while most of the bonded agricultural labourers in southern Sindh Province belong to dalit 2 (untouchable) and to tribal communities who have migrated from the drought-prone area of Tharparkar desert. Poverty and starvation have forced these communities to accept the landlords’ cash advances, and to be available for work from dawn to dusk. Bonded labourers may be detained or guarded to stop them escaping and in these situations of total ownership rape of women is not uncommon.
Many bonded labourers work for no wages, and food and clothing provided are added to their debt along with interest payments on the loan, thus increasing the debt on a daily basis. Most are forced to provide begar, a form of forced, unpaid Labour, on top of the tasks assigned against the debt. Trafficking in bonded labourers who are unable to pay their debts is a common practice among landlords. Bonded labourers are sold by one landlord to another, usually for a price higher than the debt they had with their 1previous landlord thereby increasing the bonded labourer’s debt.

The Voice Society has worked successfully for the release of some 2000 men, women and children who were being held as bonded labourers, some of whom have been bonded to the same landlords for three generations. Temporary shelter has been provided to them in seven camps around the Cities.
Living conditions in the camps are totally inadequate, but neither the government nor any other agency has offered to provide any support. These families remain vulnerable to reprisals, including threats and kidnapping, from their former landlords.
In theory, all bonded labourers should have been freed under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992 and those responsible for keeping them in bondage should have been prosecuted. However, in practice the political and financial strength of the landlords in rural areas allows them to continue using bonded labourers with impunity. Some landlords have even successfully filed charges against bonded labourers with the police, leading to the imprisonment of some 40 haris.

Recommendations

The Government of Pakistan should make clear that the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1992 should take precedence over the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950 whenever there appears to be a conflict in the interpretation of the law. It should also consider whether the relevant sections of the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950 need to be repealed.
We call on the Government to acknowledge the scale of the problem of bonded labour as outlined in the research for the Government of Sindh and the Asian Development Bank. We also urge the Government to give priority to fully implementing its National Plan of Action and in this context to pay particular attention to initiating prosecutions and establishing independent mechanisms for the registration and liberation of bonded labourers.

Targetting Bonded Labor:

Bonded labor is one of the biggest problems the world faces today, and it is equally prevalent in almost every part of the world. This article reflects on the insights of two cases which revolve around this problem and the steps taken by the authorities, legal fraternity and the government to tackle the issue.
Recently in Pakistan a lawsuit had been filed in effect to ban bonded labor within the country which directly violates the human rights of the population. The imposition has subsequently been implemented by government measures and was backed up by legal judgments. In the same year in the USA, another lawsuit had been filed against a large corporation which was engaged in the activity to bond labor in order to get more productivity without extra compensation to the workers. This caused great amounts of human rights violations.

The Case of Bonded Labor in Pakistan

In 2008 Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared bonded labor to be unconstitutional and initiated steps to abolish it. The National Assembly of the country passed a law abolishing bonded labor and prohibiting the practice. It publicized the official rules outlining how the law was to be implemented. Bonded labor, or “debt bondage” as it is also known, is a practice condemned by the United Nations as being similar to slavery and consequently a violation of human rights. However, despite the short-term progress following the Supreme Court’s judgment, debt bondage still remains a challenge for the Pakistani Government.
There are NGOs and human rights groups working in the country for the release of the bonded laborers. They have successfully secured the release of about 7,000 to 8,000 bonded laborers in the country this year, by persuading police or local government officials to inspect places where bonded laborers are reported to be held, and ordering them to be released when they are found. However, it is still very difficult, and over the past nine months the principle challenge for them has been to ensure that the freed bonded laborers remain free.

It is ten years since Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared bonded labor to be unconstitutional and took the first steps to abolish it. It is almost seven years since the National Assembly passed a law formally abolishing bonded labour and prohibiting the practice, and four years since the publication of the official “Rules” outlining how the law was to be implemented. Bonded labor, or “debt bondage” as it is labelled at international level, is a practice condemned by the United Nations as “similar to slavery” and consequently a violation of Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is considered by the International Labor Organization (ILO) to constitute forced labour and to be a violation of the ILO’s Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour.

In the days and months after the Supreme Court’s judgment of 1989, tens of thousands of bonded laborers in Pakistan’s brick kilns left the jobs which they had been doing as a result of the pressure of debt bondage. Progress was swift and it seemed that the millions of people reported to be held in debt bondage in the country would soon be free.

However, in 1999 we are obliged to conclude that, despite temporary progress following the Supreme Court’s judgment, debt bondage remains both widespread and virtually unchallenged by the Government of Pakistan. Indeed, it is both remarkable and tragic how little government officials have been willing to do to enforce the country’s laws and to bring an end to debt bondage, and how willingly they appear to tolerate its persistence.

In many cases it is entire families which are bonded in Pakistan. Of course, there are specific cases of children being pledged or bonded in return for loans to their parent(s) or guardian, notably in the carpet industry and in agriculture. The way the children are absorbed and obliged to work varies, but as a matter of routine the children of bonded families do not attend school, but start helping their parents work as soon as they reach school age, if not before.