Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court on Saturday formed a commission against bonded labour at brick kilns in the capital city. The court directed the commission headed by DC Islamabad to submit a review report on brick kilns to the court within one month. A high court bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah was hearing a petition filed by a woman against brick kiln owners for recovery of her children. Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqat appeared in the court and presented children before the court. On a question of the court, the DC affirmed that all children have been recovered. “Brick kiln owner has also been arrested,” the DC informed the bench. “We are gathering details of brick kilns in Islamabad to audit them,” the official said. Bonded labour has been outlawed in Pakistan and most other countries in line with the UN conventions on human rights. It is a type of forced labour and according to media estimates, more than four million people, including women and children, work in almost 20,000 brick kilns across Pakistan to pay off family loans taken from the business owners. Recently the Punjab government had ordered the shutdown of brick kilns in the province due to pollution causing smog in Punjab in the winter. The smoke produced by automobiles, brick kilns and stubble burning in agriculture areas causes smog in winter.