World Day Against Child Labour: Unaware of their rights, no option but to work

Experts ask govt to take measures to curb child labour.

ISLAMABAD:

Just a kilometre away from the cozy environment of a hotel, where experts had gathered to discuss child labour issues in the country, a group of five children in Aabpara Market were tirelessly washing cars in the sweltering heat.

The huddle by experts from government and private organisations to mark the World Day Against Child Labour had little meaning for Asadullah, Ehtishamul Haq, Shahab Khan, Amanullah, and Mansoor Khan, who come to the market from Bari Imam around 7am every day to wash cars and earn enough to get by.

“It is too difficult to work the entire day in this heat but we have to earn our livelihood,” said Asadullah, 14, while taking to The Express Tribune.

Normally, they turn up at their workplace in the evening as all of them said they go to school in the morning, but these days they are making ‘full use’ of summer vacations and spending the whole day working.

Throughout the day, they keep running after cars as and when they see them getting parked, begging car owners to let them wash the vehicles.

“Convincing a car owner to agree to wash their car is the biggest challenge. We always try to do a good job to give them the best result,” said Amanullah, 14.

The child labourers said that they manage to earn Rs300 to Rs400 per day after making tireless efforts.

“I give everything to my mother to buy groceries for my family,” said Shahab Khan, 14.

During their 12-hour workday, they only take one meal break, eating at a langar in the market.

“Sometimes, people give us their leftover food instead of money, which is usually fine because we are usually quite hungry,” said Mansoor Khan.

According to Unicef, around 10 million children work in Pakistan, while the International Labor Organisation put the figure at 12 million in 2012. Moreover, according to a latest report of Maplecroft, a risk analysis firm, Pakistan was ranked sixth among the 10 worst countries for child labour globally, which calls into question the government’s claim of taking measures to save their future.

Elsewhere

Meanwhile, the child rights expert during the consultation held the government responsible for child labour.

Some of the speakers believed that by implementing Article 25-A, the government could curb child labour.

Bilquis Tahira while representing Shirkat, an NGO, said, “Implementation of laws is not the solution to end child labour. When a family did not have money to buy food, it will be more focused on earning rather than spending it on education of the children.”

Head of programmes at Action Aid Daud Saqlain expressed concern over increasing number of child labour in the country. “These shocking numbers are unbearable but still we highlight them everywhere,” he said.

Dr Irshad Danish from Save The Children said over 27 million children were out of school, and seven million of them have not even received primary education. “It is embarrassing that Pakistan ranks second with most out-of-school children in the world,” he said.

A representative of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, Hassan Mangi, said that in Pakistan majority of social issues could not be resolved because of corruption. “It is a big challenge for Pakistan to educate every single child,” he said.

Arif Shamim from Social Welfare Department said that while the government make polices on social issues to fulfill international commitments and save the face, NGOs raise the issue to get funds, however, nothing happens on the ground.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2014.