Islamabad [Pakistan], August 27 (ANI): Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights has revealed widespread exploitation, human rights abuses, and gender-based violence in the country’s brick kilns, Dawn reported on Wednesday.
The commission released a study on Tuesday titled “Unveiling Exploitation and Abuse in the Brick Kilns of Punjab,” which documented severe mistreatment ranging from verbal and physical harassment to abduction and even murder.
According to the report, women workers were especially vulnerable, facing rampant sexual harassment, coercion, and forced marriages. Workers endured unsafe, unhygienic, and exploitative conditions in extreme weather, while earning wages far below the legal minimum and with no access to social security.
The study highlighted that abject poverty forced many into kiln labor. It found that 97 percent of workers joined due to urgent loans, 90 percent had no written contracts—leaving them outside the scope of labor protections—and more than 70 percent of families lived in a single cramped room. About 92 percent of workers reported verbal abuse, while others described beatings, torture, and abductions.
The investigation underscored systemic exploitation, debt bondage, gender-based violence, and the denial of basic labor rights in Punjab’s brick kilns, with research focused on Faisalabad and Kasur, two major kiln hubs.
Earlier, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) raised concerns over the 2025–26 federal budget, warning that it provides little relief for low-income groups struggling with the prolonged inflation crisis that began in 2022 and extended through 2024. (ANI)
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