Slavery in the 21st century

Global Slavery Index 2015 has revealed that 45.8 million people are living in slavery across the world

The Global Slavery Index 2015, released on May 31, has revealed that 45.8 million people are living in slavery across the world. Slavery in the modern times refers to people being kept against their will to work for someone to whom they are usually indebted, or forced to stay for other reasons owing to threats or violence. In Pakistan, its most common form is bonded labour, often found in brick kilns, with workers owing money to their employers and unable to leave until the debt is repaid in full. They are trapped into working for long periods of time for little to no pay. This means workers might never be able to repay their debts, being unable to earn the money to do so. Pakistan has been ranked third in the Global Slavery Index — with 2.13 million people living in bondage, only behind India and China.

Slavery in the country exists in the form of debt bondage, primarily in Punjab and Sindh. Generations of brick kiln workers are trapped in slavery owing huge sums to their employers and have no choice but to continue working in deplorable conditions to pay off their debts, which keep piling up due to interest. NGOs in the country continue their uphill task to highlight the issue and do what they can to free labourers from bondage, but little seems to have been done at the government level to address this issue. There is little relief as not enough media attention is given to the menace. Federal and provincial governments have continuously failed to enforce the relevant labour laws and seem to have accepted it as a permissible system. Our rulers’ indifference here is appalling, as they do not appear to recognise the evils of this medieval criminal practice continuing in 21^st century Pakistan. It is one thing to live in a country with a lack of opportunities but it is another to be trapped in a vicious cycle for one’s whole life, for generations to come, without any free will and no hope for a better tomorrow. This must change.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2016.

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