ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah on Tuesday remarked that the labourers working at brick kilns were not bound to return the money taken by them as advance.

Hearing the matter related to juvenile bonded labourers, the chief justice said giving advance loan was an illegal act.

He directed the district administration to launch an awareness campaign for the labourers telling them that they were not bound to work at brick kilns against their will and were free to switch the job.

Last month, the court constituted a commission comprising deputy commissioner Hamza Shafqaat, lawyers Adnan Haider Randhawa and Umer Gillani and president of the National Press Club Shakeel Anjum to look into the misery of bonded labourers working at brick kilns.

The commission submitted its report to the high court on Tuesday.

The report said the act of giving advance money to the kiln labourers was illegal as it was a new form of slavery in modern times.

The commission found that the practice of extending advance loan was overwhelmingly prevalent in the brick kiln sector without exception which had resulted in sector-wide continuation and prevalence of the bonded labour system in violation of the Abolition Act, 1992.

The report stated that most of the bonded labourers lived at the premises of brick kilns along with their families. Womenfolk and children are encouraged to informally work with the heads of the families.

They are encouraged to work as a family unit, instead of individual labourers. This practice violates many of the labour rights of womenfolk and children.

The commission recommended that the Labour Department, Islam­abad Capital Territory, should ensure registration of all brick kilns under the Fac­tories Act, 1934, within three months commencing on February 1, 2021.

The Labour Department should also ensure execution of employment contracts and the maintenance of prescribed registers, under the relevant labour laws, the report recommended, adding that the National Database and Registration Authority should be directed to ensure issuance of CNICs to brick kiln workers, and registration of their families/children by sending special teams to the kilns within three months.

The report stated that no child below the age of 14 years should be employed or permitted to work at any brick kiln, which was part of the “building and construction industry”, as prohibited under Part II of the Schedule of the Employment of Children Act, 1991.

The court sought a report from the district administration on implementation of the commission’s report.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2021