ISLAMABAD, May 12: Public-private sector cooperation is the key to fighting the scourge of bonded labour in the country, the National Assembly speaker, Chaudhry Amir Hussain, said here on Thursday. He was speaking as chief guest at the launching of International Labour Organization’s (ILO) global report entitled “A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour” at the National Library here on Thursday.

The speaker said the report was rightly titled. “The ILO can and is playing a leadership role. But it cannot do this alone. Thus, we call upon other donors, development agencies, international financial institutions, employers and worker organizations and civil society including research and academic institutions to join hands in fighting this curse,” he said.

The speaker said the Constitution prohibited all forms of forced labour and trafficking in human beings. Various other national and international instruments also call for the abolition of bonded labour.

The government in 2001 approved a comprehensive National Policy and Plan of Action for eradication of bonded labour. “I am happy to note that the labour ministry with the technical assistance of ILO has given a jump-start to the National Plan of Action,” he said.

The recently sanctioned projects from the special Bonded Labour Fund (BLF) set up by the president will go a long way towards helping the bonded labourers, the speaker said. Law- enforcement agencies will have to be made more sensitive to the economic, social and political rights of the bonded labour, the speaker said.

Chaudhry Amir Hussain observed that various factors were limiting the prosecution of offenders of bounded labour. He urged the labour ministry to propose appropriate amendments to the law to eliminate these factors. “I assure you the legislature, particularly the National Assembly, will address this issue as its top priority,” the speaker assured.

Talking to journalists after the ceremony, he dispelled the impression that there would be early general elections, saying, “The assembly will definitely complete its term, and lately it has been doing good legislative business.”

When asked about the date of the joint session of parliament, the speaker said he did not know about it, however, the budget session will be held in the first week of June.

ILO Country Director Donglin Li, Secretary Labour Malik Asif Hayat and Secretary-General All Pakistan Trade Union Khurshid Ahmad were also present on the occasion.

Report launching: Human smugglers earn some $32 billion annually, according to an International Labour Organization (ILO)’s report.

The report entitled “A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour” launched on Thursday said the earnings were far higher than those thought previously. About $16 billion of the total amount is generated in industrialised countries and $10 billion in Asia. Agents profit $13,000 from every person.

The report identifies three major categories of forced labour: that imposed by the state; that linked to poverty and discrimination and that arising from migration and trafficking of workers across the world, often associated with globalization.

The vast majority of forced labour today is exacted in the private economy for forced economic and forced sexual exploitation.

The profits are reaped by a minority of employers and intermediaries, who exploit vulnerable people by using threats of violence and other subtle forms of coercion to keep them in exploitative conditions. They may get a minimal pay or nothing in return for their services.

Estimated profits generated by forced labourers amount to billions of dollars each year, around $44 billion in total, of which $34 billion arise from commercial sexual exploitation.

In developing countries, most of forced labour is exacted for domestic products such as bricks and food products. Mainly brothel owners, traffickers and organized criminals capture profits derived from trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Arguing that forced labour throws a challenge to virtually every country in the world, the report also says that it can be abolished and calls for a global alliance to stop forced labour through mobilization of political will, enforcement of existing or stronger laws and policies and the linkage of such efforts with effective prevention strategies.

Despite the urgency of the problem, limited progress has been made in eradicating this social evil. Some countries such as Brazil have tackled it directly, with vigorous efforts to combat impunity through enforcement of stronger laws.