Bonded labour continues to function as a system of generational exploitation in Pakistan, sustained by abject poverty, crushing debt cycles, and entrenched feudal power structures, according to a report by Pakistani daily Dawn. The failure to enforce existing legislation has left tens of thousands of poor families trapped in a life of bondage, with children inheriting debt and abuse across generations.

Scale of the Crisis

The numbers are stark. Punjab alone has over 210,000 documented kiln workers, while more than 2,900 victims of forced labour were recorded across the country last year. In Sindh, according to The State of Peasant Rights in Sindh, 2025, 1,311 labourers were rescued from brick kilns and the farm sector — figures that experts argue represent only a fraction of the actual problem.

Entire families, including children, reportedly toil under inhuman working and living conditions for sums far below the legally mandated minimum wage. 'Lifespans rarely outlast the loans driven up by interest charges. Generations inherit a cycle of debt and abuse,' the Dawn editorial noted.

Laws Exist — Enforcement Does Not

Pakistan's Constitution explicitly outlaws all forms of forced labour and slavery. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992 criminalises the practice. Yet, according to the Dawn report, the gap between constitutional guarantees and ground reality remains vast and largely unaddressed.

'The failure to enforce the law and insufficient efforts to bridge the distance between constitutional rights and their fulfilment have forced poor people into a life of bondage,' the editorial stated. Notably, enforcement patterns are described as reactive — typically triggered by media attention or judicial intervention rather than proactive policing.

Women and Children Among the Most Vulnerable

The National Commission for Human Rights has documented that women in bonded labour routinely face sexual abuse and forced marriages, according to the report. Children begin their lives in conditions described as inhuman, with no access to education or legal recourse.

The Dawn editorial also flagged that the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recently praised Pakistan for raising the minimum marriageable age to 18. However, persistent high rates of child brides and bonded labour significantly overshadow that progress, critics argue. 'Underage marriage is enslavement, while the purchase of bricks produced through debt bondage by construction companies and government groups continues to sustain the curse of bonded labour,' the report added.

Systemic Complicity and What Must Change

The report directly indicts political and law-enforcement structures, stating that 'law enforcement and political quarters are notorious for protecting the perpetrators, instead of ensuring legal implementation.' Spot inspections are described as absent, allowing abuses — including verbal abuse, beatings, torture, and murder — to persist unchecked.

Construction companies and even government entities reportedly continue purchasing bricks produced through debt bondage, embedding the system into formal economic activity. Unless structural reforms are implemented and enforcement is made proactive, observers warn that Pakistan will remain far from meeting its own constitutional commitments on human rights.