ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: Participants of a national consultation and paralegal training programme on bonded labour have called for more active support to the bonded labourers to fight the menace. “We, the participants of a national consultation and paralegal training on bonded labour, are shocked at the conditions under which bonded labourers are forced to live and work,” said a statement issued at the conclusion of the consultation and training here on Friday.

The day-long national consultation on bonded labour and two- day paralegal training for civil society organizations working on bonded labour were organized by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc).

The participants asked the government to fulfil its national and international obligations to combat bonded labour, and pledged to continue their efforts to help bonded labourers have their rights.

“National laws and the constitution prohibit bonded labour, and the government has ratified the ILO Convention prohibiting slavery. We demand that these be implemented in their true spirit.”

They urged the state to play its due role to ensure the release of bonded labourers and to cancel their debts, besides working for their rehabilitation through skill development and jobs creation.

They regretted that bonded labour persisted in the country, whereas slavery had been abolished all over the world. “Perhaps the single most important step the government can take to benefit bonded labourers is to issue them Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC) and subsequently enrol them as voters.”