LAHORE: Sixty-three bonded labourers have been recovered from a brick kiln in Basti Pir Ismail near Multan, following a writ petition filed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). In May, HRCP received a complaint from Saghar Hussain, a resident of Basti Pir Ismail, saying that a brick kiln owner in the area had sold his kiln – along with 63 kiln workers – for Rs 1,800,000. HRCP’s Multan office filed a writ petition before the Lahore High Court’s Multan Bench for the recovery of the detained workers. This was done today and the bonded labourers released on the direction of Justice Sadiq Khurram. Despite the passage of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1992, the abhorrent practice of bonded labour continues, especially in southern Punjab and Sindh.

Source: Pakistan Today June 14, 2019 13:40 UTC