Over 20,000 Brick Kiln Workers Face Exploitation
News Desk
Islamabad: Over 20,000 workers, primarily women and children, are employed at brick kilns, facing widespread exploitation.
Human rights activist Ayub Malik called for urgent enforcement of existing laws to protect this highly neglected sector.
Speaking to APP on Sunday, Malik highlighted that in the world’s poorest countries, slightly more than 1 in 5 children are engaged in child labor.
In Pakistan, 87,000 children of brick kiln workers have been enrolled in government-sponsored schools for free education. Despite this, brick kiln workers remain largely deprived of their legal rights and forced to work in hazardous and unsafe environments.
Malik emphasized that the working conditions at brick kilns are no better than the living conditions of the workers themselves. He pointed out that poverty drives the majority of these workers to the kilns, many of whom are sent by their families.
“There is an urgent need for a regulatory body to address the issues faced by brick kiln workers. Currently, only a limited number have written contracts, while the rest work on the basis of verbal agreements,” he said.
He also highlighted that remuneration is typically based on the number of bricks produced or carried, with workers toiling for 11-13 hours a day.
Malik further criticized the financial system that traps workers through advances and loans, forcing them to remain at the kilns indefinitely. He demanded that this practice be abolished to free workers from such exploitative conditions.
Child labor remains a significant issue at the district level, with Faisalabad having the highest number of children under the age of 14 employed at brick kilns, according to a recent analysis. Vehari and Multan also report similarly high rates of child labor, while Narowal has the lowest percentage, with only 0.41 percent of the total employed children.
The human rights activist urged the government to take immediate action to improve the living and working conditions of brick kiln workers and ensure the enforcement of labor laws to protect them from exploitation.
