Unfree labour in Pakistan: work, debt and bondage in brick kilns

This paper on bonded labour in Pakistan’s brick sector was prepared by a team of researchers / activists from the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) in Karachi.

This Working Paper is one of a series of Rapid Assessments of bonded labour in Pakistan, each of which examines a different economic sector.
The aim of these studies is to inform the implementation of the Government of Pakistan’s National Policy and Plan of Action for the Abolition of Bonded Labour, adopted in 2001. The research was conducted under the guidance of the Bonded Labour Research Forum (BLRF), a distinguished group of Pakistani research and development specialists, convened by the Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis with the support of the ILO. The Rapid Assessments were undertaken by independent Pakistani researchers, who were selected by the BLRF for their competence and experience in the different sectors.