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Effectiveness of Interventions for the Release and Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers in Pakistan Zulfiqar Shah Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research 2008 Effectiveness of Interventions for the Release and Rehabilitation 2 of Bonded Labourers in Pakistan Contents 3 Introduction Executive summary Chapter 1 Bonded labour in Pakistan: Overview Sectors afflicted with bondage in Pakistan National legislation International standards Chapter 2 Current Status of Bonded Labour Mechanism of bondage Reasons: socio-economic indicators and political structure Gender and bonded labour Bonded Labourers Interventions and Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation for the Release Chapter 3 of Judicial Interventions Brick kiln Agriculture Carpet weaving Chapter 4 Interventions State Interventions Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1992 National Policy and Plan of Action (NPPA) 2001 National Policy and Plan of Action for Combating Child Labour International Covenants and Conventions Ratified by Pakistan Government Schemes for Workers Effectiveness of Chapter 5 Civil Society Interventions International Organizations/NGOs National Organizations, local NGOs (Agriculture) National Organizations, local NGOs (Brick Kiln) National Organizations, local NGOs (Carpet Weaving) Community Intervention Political Intervention Role of Media and trade unions Chapter 6 Rehabilitation Brick kiln Agriculture Carpet weaving Chapter 7 Recommendations Effectiveness of Interventions for the Release and Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers in Pakistan Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research 2008 ISBN 978-969-9153-03-7 Cover & design: K. B Abro The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), engaged with labour issues for the last 25 years, has under- taken to review the changing trends and the factors impacting adversely on the workers' lives and the working conditions, and document the workers' struggles to counteract these forces. This report attempts to put together a picture of the current sta- tus of labour in the country. The report aims to facilitate the role of the civil society as a watchdog of human rights related to work and workplace. A con- stant vigil and monitoring of labour laws violations can serve as a useful tool in the struggle to ensure rights enshrined in the Constitution, national legislation and international covenants and standards. The report covers the period up to December 2006 and is based on two categories of sources. Firstly, the secondary sources which range from print media and the internet, to the latest official reports and documents, research studies and articles available on the subject. Secondly, and of particular significance, is the PILER's direct engagement and interaction with work- 4 ers and labour organizations in the informal sector, trade unions, civil society groups and representatives of state labour insti- in Pakistan Bonded Labourers for the Release and Rehabilitation for the Release of Interventions Effectiveness of tutions. The assessment of conditions of work and employment put together in this report is based on the work undertaken by the PILER programme and field staff members in recent years. Besides small surveys, rapid assessments and sector profiles, the national conventions of workers in the textile, brick kilns, transport, construction and light engineering sectors organized by PILER in 2005 have contributed richly to the report. Information sharing by workers' representatives, trade unionists, social activists during seminars, training workshops and consultative meetings organized by PILER and the help sought by the work- ers through the Labour Rights Helpline services have also provided insights in to the assessment. The report, first of its kind, acknowledges being deficient in many aspects in view of the constraints in documentation and systematic data collection prevalent at all levels of society. The constraints include non-cooperation of state governance struc- tures to share data related to labour, lack of dispassionate critique of labour legislation, and the lack of a unified institution- al mechanism at non-governmental level to monitor labour matters. PILER looks forward to critical review, comments and suggestions for improvement in future reporting. Introduction 5 number of studies on the issue of bond- ed labour, conducted in Pakistan as well as other South Asian countries in Athe past, have confirmed the wide- in Pakistan spread prevalence of forced labour in South Asian countries particularly India, Pakistan and Nepal. Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), General Federation of Bonded Labourers Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) and Centre for and Rehabilitation for the Release Education and Communication (CEC), Delhi, in of collaboration with Anti-Slavery International (ASI), had initiated a four-year Action Research Programme to look into the interventions made so far in the bonded labour issue in these three Interventions countries. The research project, which ended on December 31, 2007, included one-year pilot phase and three-year action research. In Effectiveness of Pakistan, PILER conducted three studies ana- lyzing bonded labour interventions in Agriculture, Brick kiln and Carpet sectors; the three sectors believed to be widely infected by industry of Tharparkar district of Sindh, a proj- bonded labour in two major provinces of ect of Thardeep Rural Development Pakistan -- Sindh and Punjab. Advocacy and Programmeme (TRDP) was assessed. lobbying aimed at ending bonded labour had Secondary research was undertaken to analyse been integral part of the project throughout the history of bondage in Pakistan, with focus these years. on interventions. The field surveys for brick kiln workers were Methodology conducted in Faisalabad and Multan districts in xtensive field visits were carried out at all Punjab. Data on agriculture workers was col- Elocations--Multan and Faisalabad in lected from the camps of released Haris in and Punjab and Hyderabad, Sanghar and around Hyderabad district in Sindh, while for Tharparkar in Sindh. A semi- structured ques- interventions in bonded child labour in carpet tionnaire was prepared and used to have inter- labour system." views of primary respondents i.e. brick kiln workers and released Haris (agricultural work- Though there are many opinions on the defini- ers). In Punjab rapid assessment was also done tion of bonded labour in the country, where a in Lahore, Sahiwal and Jhang districts. large number of people even do not accept the A significant number of key informants, partic- existence of bonded labour, those who accept ularly in brick kilns, were accessed for informal that the menace has strong roots in the feudal unstructured interviews. The aim was to estab- dominated society agree that 'debt' is the lish trust in the identified communities. main cause, pushing people in bondage. 6 In addition to brick kiln workers and Haris, the The issue has been under discussion at official employers, activists working on the issue of as well as unofficial levels for at least three bondage, government officials, lawyers and decades now. During this period, particularly trade union leaders were also interviewed and since mid 1980s thousands of bonded labour- in Pakistan their views incorporated in the study. ers have been released through different inter- ventions. However, hundreds of thousands still The selection of brick kilns and the primary remain in bondage. respondents was made on random basis but keeping in mind that representation of all Various interventions so far have been initiated Tehsils in a district are included. Most of the by the government, judiciary, civil society (non- interviews were done with the help of local governmental organizations), international Bonded Labourers for the Release and Rehabilitation for the Release activists. organizations, human rights groups, labour of rights groups, peasant organizations, political Executive Summary parties, community organizations, media and, nternational organizations consider bonded in many cases concerned individuals have also Ilabour as a contemporary form of slavery that played an active role. Interventions involves an estimated 20 million people all over the world. Analysis of a number of research studies and literature, particularly annual reports of the The International Labour Organization (ILO) HRCP reveal that joint intervention by NGOs, defines forced labour as "work or service, judiciary and administration has proved com- Effectiveness of extracted from a person under threat or penal- paratively effective in the release of bonded ty, which includes penal sanctions and the loss labourers. of rights and privileges, where the person has not offered him/herself voluntarily." Though different NGOs claim that about 30,000 bonded labourers have been released In Pakistan, definition of bondage or bonded in the country during last one decade, the labour generally focuses on debt under which PILER research team has been able to account poor workers are coerced into a situation where for only 8,530 people confirmed released at they are compelled to work against their wishes this time (2007). These statistics are based on not for some years but for generations and in the numbers of released bonded labourers, many cases with restricted movements and lim- mentioned in the HRCP annual reports and in ited or no freedom of choice. newspaper clippings available at the PILER library. Surely, the number of those released The latest law in Pakistan, which
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