ISLAMABAD: Sajid Hussain, 24, has not visited his home in the Bahawalpur district after he started working in a brick kiln in the Losar village near Rawat about three years back.

Hussain misses his family but it is impossible for him to visit his hometown without paying Rs50,000 to the brick-kiln owner.

“I came to Rawalpindi in search of work and one of my friends suggested me to start from a brick kiln till finding a suitable job.”

He said the brick-kiln owners never hired any labourer for less than one year because they believed that a worker can leave without any prior notice unless they were bound through advance payment.

Hussain said his employer paid him Rs0.1 million in advance by taking his signature on a stamp paper. The money was to be deducted from his on a weekly basis.

He said the government had directed the brick-kiln owners to pay the workers Rs740 for 1,000 bricks but the directions were never followed.

“The owner of the brick kiln pays me Rs400 for 1,000 bricks.” He said he earned Rs2,400 per week but got Rs1,200 after the deduction of the advance salary.

“I wish I could return the loan because I want to go home to see my mother,” he added.

Like Hussain, Punal, 22, a resident of Rahim Yar Khan, has also been working on a brick kiln in the Losar village for almost 10 years.

“I was only 10 years old when I started working in the brick kiln along with my father and an elder brother.”

Punal said the owner paid him Rs0.2 million in advance. Now it is impossible for me to leave the work without paying the amount back.

He said his father died four years back while he and his brother were still trying to return the remaining amount.

“Although we returned Rs0.1 million, the remaining Rs0.1 million is still pending.” Punal said the owner was giving him Rs500 for 1,000 bricks.

Mohammad Baksh, 65, a resident of tehsil Lalian in district Chiniot, said he had been working in the brick kiln for the last 30 years.

“If someone wants to see slaves in the 21st century, he should spend some time with us as we can’t leave the site because we are bonded through the ‘peshgi’ (advance) system.”

He said his employer paid him Rs0.3 million in advance. “I am working day and night along with my two sons but it is difficult to pay the amount back,” he said. The owner of the kiln gives me Rs550 for 1,000 bricks.

“There are around 50 brick kilns in Losar village and the violations of labour rights continue there. However, officials of the labour department never visit the site to listen to the problems of the labourers,” he added.

Mohammad Sakhi, 40, a resident of tehsil Kot Momin in Sargodha: “I am working along with my wife on the brick kiln and the owner is giving me Rs450 for 1,000 bricks.”

The brick-kiln workers alleged that they were forced into the bonded labour, denied minimum wages and harassed and implicated in fake cases if they tried to resist the oppression of the owners.

According to the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, there are 18,000 brick kilns in Pakistan, including 10,000 in Punjab, where around 4.5 million people are working.

The officials of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) believe that there are almost 2.5 million bonded labourers in Pakistan out of whom around 1.5 million, including children and women, are in the brick kilns.

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1992 defines this as a labour where the workers enter into a contract to pay off a debt and work for nominal or no wages. Even though the act banned such labour 22 years ago, not much has been done to eradicate this modern form of slavery.

In August 2013, the Supreme Court issued a ruling forbidding the owners from giving loans to workers that amounted to more than 15 days of wages. The court also directed that brick-kiln workers should be issued social security cards under the Employees’ Social Security Ordinance 1965.

Mehar Abdul Haq, the general secretary of the Brick Kiln Owners Association of Pakistan, told Dawn that it was necessary for them to bind the labourers through the advance payment to ensure smooth running of the kilns.

“After burning the fire in the kiln, a brick kiln owner cannot afford the loss of Rs1 million due to the shortage of labourers.”

He said the owners cannot afford to support the government for the social security cards of the labourers.

President of All Pakistan Bhatta Labour Federation and general secretary Bonded Labour Liberation Front, Syeda Ghulam Fatima said the government had notified fair wages for the brick-kiln labourers but failed to ensure its implementation.

She said it was the responsibility of the district coordination officer of each district to take action against the brick-kiln owners. She said the workers were also suffering from tuberculosis, hepatitis C and skin diseases.

Supreme Court lawyer Ikram Chaudhry said under Article 11 of the Constitution, slavery and under the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act of 1992 forced labour under the ‘peshgi’ method were punishable offences.

He said despite the directions of the Supreme Court, the provincial governments had failed to get all the brick kilns registered. “Laws to protect workers are there but their implementation is weak,” he said.

Member of the Punjab Assembly from Rawalpindi and provincial minister for labour and human resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said the government was trying to eliminate bonded labour.

“We are also in the process of negotiating with the brick-kiln owners in this regard.”

He said the ministry had issued social security cards to 8,500 brick-kin workers and more workers would be provided with the cards.