Church on the side of exploited brickkiln labourers
Kasur (AsiaNews) The Catholic Church's response to the exploitation of brickkiln labourers in Kasur (50 km or 30 miles south of Lahore near the border with India) has been to open a sewing centre and set up an adult education programme.
Margaret Piara, who is responsible for both projects, outlined their main features to an audience of some 150 people gathered on a "Social Justice Sunday" in Kasur. The event was organised by the Catholic Church of Pakistan and was dedicated to "Freedom from Slavery" (Ghulami say Nijat)
Inspired by the Scriptures, Ms Paira said: "In the Old Testament God listened to His people's cry and, through Moses, came down to free them." She added: "Today each one of us must call on God to set brickkiln workers free."
According to Ms Piara only literacy can free people from exploitation. "You cannot come out of this slavery if you do not send your children to the nearest schools," she told her audience made up mostly of workers; "otherwise, they will do the same thing as you do and will remain slaves for generations."
Brickkiln labourers are among the most exploited and mistreated workers in the country. Back in June of this year trade unions reported the case of an entire family 67 people in all kept as virtual prisoners in a kiln in Silkiot (150 km or 95 miles north of Lahore). Police found them chained at the workplace at night.
In the Kasur area there are 41 kilns that make bricks for the construction industry. Some 9,000 Christians are employed in the sector. In Pakistan as a whole almost 9 million people do this kind of work.
A family of six can make about a thousand bricks per day. According to the wage scale agreed to by the government a thousand bricks correspond to a salary of 184 rupees, just over US.
In 1992, Pakistan adopted a law banning bonded labour, but the law has never been respected.
In addition to being poorly paid, Kiln work is hazardous to workers' health. According to Mukhtar Zaman Afridi, a tuberculosis specialist at a Peshawar hospital, eye and skin allergies are common in kiln workers. Diseases like anaemia, asthma and lung fibrosis have also been frequently reported.
Most kilns are found along the border with Pakistan and since the early 90s largely employ Afghans who fled the Taliban regime.
In need of quick money, many refugees accepted advance wages from local kiln owners and now the whole family works to pay off the debt, women and children included.
"Brick workers are unable to go back to Afghanistan [. . .] because they are paying off debts," said the president of the All Afghanistan Federation of Trade Unions, Mir Ali.
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07/09/2019 08:00
22/03/2023 19:42
