IHC forms commission on bonded labour

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday formed a commission against bonded labour at brick kilns in federal capital.

An IHC bench, comprised of Chief Justice Athar Minallah, heard a petition, filed by a woman against brick kiln owners for recovery of her children.

The court directed the commission, headed by DC Islamabad, to submit a review report on brick kilns to the court within one month.

Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqat appeared in the court and presented children before the court. On a question of the court, the DC affirmed that all children have been recovered. “Brick kiln owner has also been arrested,” the DC informed the bench. “We are gathering details of brick kilns in Islamabad to audit them,” the official said.

Bonded labour has been outlawed in Pakistan and most other countries in line with the UN conventions on human rights. It is a type of forced labour and according to media estimates, more than four million people, including women and children, work in almost 20,000 brick kilns across Pakistan to pay off family loans taken from the business owners.

Recently the Punjab government had ordered shutdown of brick kilns in province due to pollution causing smog in Punjab in the winter. The smoke, produced by automobiles, brick kilns and stubble burning in agriculture areas, causes smog in winter.