Bonded Labour In Pakistan

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Bonded Labour In Pakistan – A Humanitarian Crisis Slavery is a dreadful concept which is considered unacceptable in most parts of the world – yet in Pakistan, millions of people continue to live in bondage, forced to suffer subhuman conditions and daily humiliations at the whim of those who ‘rule’ their lives. Responding to international pressure, the Government of Pakistan promulgated the “Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1992”. Under this Act, a “Vigilance Committee” was to be immediately set up in every district of the country to monitor whether bonded labour was being enforced anywhere and to facilitate bonded labourers attain their freedom forfeited at the hands of oppressive landlords.1 Unfortunately, this has not been done to this day, nor…show more content…
Near the city of Hyderabad in the south-eastern Sindh province, there are 7 to 8 private camps for haris (agricultural workers who work for landlords), where absconded bonded labourers live out of fear that their former landlords might round them up and take them back for restarting bonded labour on their…show more content…
However, to this day no case could ever be registered under this Act. No implementation of it can be seen. In Sindh, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) coalition government during the General Pervez Musharraf regime had formed a separate anti-bonded labour ministry, but it has never handled any such case. The present government has retained this ministry for no reason, at taxpayers’ expense, as it simultaneously denies the existence of bonded labour in the province outright. Thus it refuses to even acknowledge this burning issue which has held millions of humans hostage to oppressive landlords for decades, what to talk of taking some step to resolve the
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