In Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, the High Court in 2021/2 called on the city’s administrative authorities to eradicate the situation in which people are being forced to work in brick kilns to repay debts. Across Pakistan, including at brick kilns and other sites, many people are made to work unfairly to pay back loans. Such people are called “bonded laborers,” and this has long been a major issue as one form of “modern slavery.” While slavery and the slave trade are well known around the world as historical phenomena, they are not merely problems of the past; they persist today in different forms as “modern slavery.” What lies behind this problem? How can it be solved? This article explores the case of bonded labor in Pakistan.

People loading bricks onto a wheelbarrow, Pakistan (Photo: Adam Cohn / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

What bonded labor is

First, let’s take a closer look at modern slavery. It takes various forms, but key elements include exploitation for personal gain, a lack of consent or agency (and in some cases of choice) on the part of victims, and the use of punishment that prevents victims from escaping their enslaved state. It is estimated that there are 40 million or more victims of modern slavery worldwide. Modern slavery is an umbrella term that includes bonded labor, forced labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, child labor, and more, with these issues intricately interlinked.

Bonded labor refers mainly to people who are constrained and made to work in order to repay debts. How do people become bonded laborers? For example, when expenses become necessary that they cannot pay on their own—such as medical costs, funerals, or loss of income due to unemployment—people living in poverty often have no choice but to borrow money in exchange for their own or their family’s labor. Once they incur a debt, high interest and low wages can trap them: even if the initial loan was relatively small, repayment never ends and they become bonded laborers. Employers keep people in bonded labor for long periods to maximize profit.

In such precarious lives, when circumstances change—illness, for instance—and extra money is needed, people resort to a high-interest advance system and take on further loans. Workers are then obligated to perform additional labor until the newly borrowed amount is repaid. While such advances may provide temporary relief, repayment is not easy and ultimately worsens workers’ hardship. In recent developments, brokers who mediate between employers and bonded laborers have increased, raising concerns about double exploitation in which workers become indebted to both parties. Because individual circumstances differ, it has become increasingly difficult to generalize the relationship between employers and workers who fall into bonded labor.

What situations do bonded laborers find themselves in? There are various cases: an indebted individual may be forced into labor, or a child may be sent to work in place of the debtor. In many cases, not only the debtor but the entire family becomes entangled in forced labor. For example, when employers unilaterally set excessive daily production quotas, families, including children, are compelled to work to meet them. Moreover, debts are often passed down, perpetuating exploitation over generations. Threats and abuse by employers, rape, malnutrition and other health damage from poor working conditions, and other secondary harms are also far from rare.

It is extremely difficult for indebted people to escape bondage. One reason is that even if they leave forced labor, there may be no alternative employment. Given high unemployment across society, many workers are afraid to speak out for fear that protests will lead to eviction or job loss and the collapse of their livelihoods, and thus remain silent. While being forced to work, they often have no capacity to learn about the labor rights they should be able to claim, and some who became bonded as children due to family debts grow up without receiving basic education at all. If a worker tries to escape bondage, employers may detain them in private prison-like facilities for punishment, where they are treated even more harshly still. In some cases, not only employers but some police officers return workers who try to flee to the employer, or even help re-confine workers who had once been freed.

According to an ILO study, there are around 800 ten-thousand bonded laborers worldwide, with particularly high numbers in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal as well as Pakistan. The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s Palermo Protocol (※1) calls for treating bonded labor as a form of human trafficking and a crime. Nevertheless, despite international agreements, bonded labor remains deeply entrenched. Below we look more closely at the case of Pakistan.

Chimneys of a brick factory in Pakistan (Photo: Adam Cohn / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Bonded labor in Pakistan

Pakistan, located northwest of India, has a population of about 2 hundred million 2,600 ten-thousand people (as of 2021/8), and its main industries are agriculture and textiles. As of 2015, 24.3% of the population was living in poverty, and disparities among the poor were large, requiring policies tailored to different levels of severity accordingly.

The region that is now Pakistan has historically been ruled by various South Asian empires. After the Mughal Empire, which had controlled the area since the 16th century, declined, British trading companies—and later the British government—advanced into the region, and colonial rule began in 1858. Pakistan gained independence from British India in 1947. Before colonial rule, villages had no landlords; only officials administered land and taxes, and there was no system for individuals to own land and pass it down. As the Mughal Empire collapsed, landlords began to emerge and grew in power with the British presence. Landless farmers were hired to work on land owned by landlords, laboring within an unequal employer–worker relationship. In this way, a feudal system (※2) developed, and extreme inequality in it gave rise to bonded labor in agriculture.

After independence, in some regions, a shift from traditional to commercial agriculture led to changes in employment patterns. As agricultural jobs declined, people who lost work migrated to urban peripheries and, while searching for jobs in continued poverty, increasingly had to borrow from employers—including factories that use forced labor—becoming bonded in various sectors.

Subsequent social developments notwithstanding, landlords and other economic elites have wielded strong political power and exerted significant political and economic influence over ordinary citizens ever since. Bonded labor has become deeply embedded in Pakistan as a de facto economic model and thus, to some extent, has been countenanced. In some instances, bonded-labor employers have close ties to the government, or local government officials themselves have imposed forced labor, and police, prosecutors, and judges have cooperated with or supported employers, showing little willingness to investigate or prosecute.

People working in agriculture (Photo: ILO Asia-Pacific / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

The number of people considered to be in modern slavery in Pakistan alone is estimated at 3.186 million, ranking 8th in the world in proportion to population. However, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimates that among those in modern slavery, the number in bonded labor ranges from 3 million to 8 million. Detailed data on bonded labor are difficult to obtain because definitions vary across studies due to the diversity of forms and degrees, making an accurate overall picture elusive.

What kinds of jobs do these people do? There are various sectors with differing characteristics, including agriculture, brick kilns, mining, fishing, domestic work, and other manufacturing. The sector employing the largest number of bonded laborers is agriculture. In many cases, workers do not own land; they live on and work land rented from an employer. At brick kilns, bonded laborers make bricks from clay. Because brick kiln work fluctuates seasonally, many borrow from employers in the off-season to survive. Mining is another sector where bonded laborers work. Here, relationships depend less on historical employer–worker ties than in agriculture or brick kilns, and intermediaries often play a role. Forced labor in mines is said to involve a higher degree of physical control and violence. Working conditions are extremely poor, and because mines are physically isolated, workers are also socially isolated. In fisheries, people without the necessary fishing permits often work as bonded laborers under those who hold permits. The working environment of bonded laborers in domestic work differs somewhat from the above: they labor inside the homes of middle- and upper-class employers in urban areas, out of public view and at high risk of abuse.

Other manufacturing examples include the production of soccer balls and accessories. In such trades, workers may have opportunities for advancement or family connections, and the degree of exploitation is considered lower than in other sectors, yet the problem of bonded labor still exists.

A boy stitching a soccer ball (Photo: International Labour Organization ILO / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Efforts toward eradication

So far we have mainly addressed the current state of bonded labor, but efforts to tackle it also deserve attention. Let’s first look at the federal government’s actions. In 1992, Pakistan enacted a law abolishing bonded labor. It removed certain debt obligations for people working as bonded laborers and criminalized forcing debtors to work. A monitoring committee was established, and district administrators were empowered to investigate the presence of bonded labor and take action. On the surface, these measures seemed effective. However, at the 1997 International Labour Conference, the ILO reported that the official conviction rate of bonded-labor employers since 1992 was 0%. In practice, people continued to be forced into bonded labor, and the government had not conducted adequate investigations or taken sufficient action to resolve the problem.

In 2001, the government announced a National Policy and Plan of Action (NPPA: National Policy and Plan of Action) on bonded labor. It aimed to eradicate bonded labor and to provide housing and food support to people freed from bondage. However, the livelihoods of those freed remain far from adequate, and the policy’s effectiveness is in doubt.

There have also been provincial initiatives. In 2016, regarding bonded labor in Punjab’s brick kilns, employers were required to submit detailed written contracts to labor inspectors in order to understand and improve conditions. However, underlying social structures did not change, enforcement and monitoring of kilns were inadequate, and informal employment did not decrease. Some labor inspectors also came under pressure from powerful figures, highlighting the need to ensure inspectors can carry out proper investigations in the future.

Labor inspectors in Punjab after training (Photo: ILO Asia-Pacific / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Furthermore, in 2015 the Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resources launched a project to enroll children working at brick kilns in nearby schools. However, because most parents in bonded labor effectively use their children as collateral in advance systems, enrollment is not simple and cannot be solved quickly.

At the city level, shortcomings have also been exposed. For example, in 2021/8, it was revealed that only four officers were responsible for monitoring labor issues across 63 brick kilns in Islamabad, a number criticized as inadequate given the scale of bonded labor.

Private organizations such as NGOs have also undertaken initiatives. The NGO Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan (BLLF), which aims to eradicate bonded labor in the country, has established shelters to support the release and social reintegration of people in bondage and provides legal assistance with lawyers. The NGO has also actively lobbied the government and appears to have succeeded in getting a national commission on bonded labor established. There are also groups focused on researching and acting against bonded labor in brick kilns, and organizations that operate shelters where people freed from bondage can stay until they find their next jobs. However, even with multifaceted approaches by NGOs, the conclusion is that fundamental social structural reforms are necessary to solve bonded labor at its root—ultimately making robust government action indispensable.

Looking ahead

As we have seen, eliminating bonded labor is crucial, but we must also consider the lives of people after being freed. Even if government and NGO initiatives remove them from their employers, starting a new life is not easy. If they were forced to work and could not attend school, their future job options are limited, increasing the risk of re-exploitation. With high national unemployment, finding legal work other than forced labor is difficult and deeply unsettling for those freed. Many bonded laborers have their housing and other aspects of life controlled by employers; upon release, they often lose their homes as well. Furthermore, many do not possess a government-issued National Identity Card or the birth certificates needed to obtain one. Without these, they cannot access public healthcare, food rations, and other government services, leaving them in a vulnerable position in their subsequent lives.

A brick kiln worker showing a social security card (Photo: ILO Asia-Pacific / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

To truly solve the bonded labor problem, support must continue after liberation alongside eradication itself. How far can the government reform the social conditions and power relations in Pakistan that enable exploitation? Can it build systems that prevent people from becoming victims of unjust exploitation and allow them to seek help safely? It must also change the economic circumstances that force people to borrow for life events and illness. It will likely take a long time before no one suffers from bonded labor.

※1　Official name: “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.” Adopted in 2000 in New York.

※2 A system in which landlords own land and control the people living on it; it denotes a clear hierarchy that does not recognize the freedom or rights of individual workers.

Writer: Aoi Yagi

Graphics: Mayuko Hanafusa

Follow @GNV_tweets