Pakistan 3rd in child and forced labour: ILO
Pakistan has been ranked third in the world for having the largest childrens workforce
Dunya News Report (Yaruq Malik)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked third in the world for having the largest children’s workforce. According to the statistics taken from the International Labour Organization (ILO) report for the year 2014, a decline has been observed throughout the world in the number of underage workers, yet Pakistan remains at the third spot with the highest prevalence of child and forced labour.
According to the report by ILO, in 2012, around 12.5 million children in Pakistan were involved in child labour while 264,000 were reported in domestic child labour.
Another report by the Global Slavery Index 2013 categorized Pakistan as the third highest in prevalence of child and forced labour despite a significant decline in other parts of the world.
According to the Executive Director of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), Sadia Hussain, Pakistan faces the ‘worst’ form of child labour where workers are subjected to physical and mental torture. She said that there should be ‘zero’ tolerance against forced child labour and insisted towards creating a national policy against it.
“There should be zero tolerance against all the forms and manifestations of child labour,” she said.
She further added that in Pakistan, 25 million children are not going to school out of which 15 million are earning for their families through various forms of labour work. She said it has been 20 years since Pakistan conducted a child labour survey and none of the provinces are interested in conducting a fresh survey on the issue.
SPARC representative Khalid Mehmood reported that human trafficking is also on the rise in the country alongside child labour whereas a proper legislation towards these issues might turn things back in the right direction.
“Legislation is crucial for protecting children’s rights and curbing human trafficking. The last National Child Labour Survey was conducted in 1996 which estimated the number to be 3.3 million,” said the SPARC official.
A recent seminar titled ‘Elimination of child labour in Pakistan’ was hosted by SPARC in which the child labour situation in Pakistan was discussed. Speakers of the seminar highlighted the alarmingly growing numbers in child labour and insisted on creating a national policy for the issue. The speakers added that the government and citizens should work together in order to convince people to educate the children they have employed.
On the other hand, Punjab government has enforced an ordinance titled ‘The Punjab Prohibition of Child Labour at Brick Kilns Ordinance-2016’ which will eliminate child labour from brick kilns. He added that in case of a violation of the ordinance, the owner of the kiln would have to face a six month imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 500,000.
Spokesman of the Punjab government Zaeem Qadri stated that the government of Pakistan is taking solid steps to eliminate child labour from the country. He said that the children working at the kilns would be enrolled in schools and the government would provide them with stationary, school uniforms and a monthly stipend of Rs. 1000.
He further added that a steering committee has been formed to monitor brick kilns and the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, will supervise the committee.
Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) Pakistan has praised the efforts made by the Punjab government to eliminate child and forced labour from brick kilns all across Punjab. The BLLF has welcomed the ordinance 2016 for prohibition of child labour in brick kilns and has praised the effort.
The BLLF discussed the new child labour policy for 2016 and insisted on the enforcement of law against any violation under the ordinance.
