VZCZCXRO4309
RR RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #2064/01 1610938
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090938Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7282
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 9863
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 5607
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4347
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 002064 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ETRD PGOV SOCI PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN: INFORMATION ON FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR IN 
THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS 
 
Ref: STATE 43120 
 
¶1. (U) The following is a response to the Department's request for 
information on the use of forced and child labor in the production 
of goods.  Responses are keyed to questions in reftel. 
 
¶2. (U) There are no recent surveys or studies on the nationwide use 
of forced labor and exploitative child labor in the production of 
goods in Pakistan.  A 1996 National Child Labor Survey, conducted 
with technical assistance from the International Labor Organization 
(ILO), found that 8.3 percent of children aged 5 to 14 were 
employed, 73 percent of them male.  71 percent of Pakistan's child 
laborers were concentrated in the agricultural, fisheries, 
construction and manufacturing industries.  The Government of 
Pakistan (GOP), in conjunction with the ILO, has been planning to 
update the 1996 survey for several years. ILO representatives 
expressed a desire to build a child labor survey into the next 
national census, scheduled to begin in October 2008.  While Ministry 
of Labor officials are reluctant to speculate on the outcomes of any 
future survey, they hope increasing primary school enrollment rates 
are an indication that child labor is on the decline. 
 
¶3. (U) Data on the use of child and forced labor in the production 
of goods is mostly anecdotal and incomplete.  Information in this 
cable has been collected from the Ministry of Labor, the ILO and 
NGOs operating in Pakistan.  According to the Ministry of Labor, 
nearly all of Pakistan's forced and child labor occurs in informal, 
family-based or cottage industries.  In non-agricultural sectors, 93 
percent of working children are engaged in informal activities. 
Children's contribution to work in rural areas is around eight times 
greater than in urban areas.  Estimates indicate that 95 to 98 
percent of all forced labor also occurs in the informal sector. 
 
¶4. (U) ILO sources indicate that there is some incidence of forced 
labor in the agricultural sector, particularly in the production of 
wheat, sugar and tobacco in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. 
There are recorded cases in which landowner-tenant share cropping 
arrangements denigrate into debt bondage.  In these cases, tenants 
borrow money from landlords during the course of the year, planning 
to return it when crops are harvested.  Post-harvest profits are 
often insufficient to pay back the terms of the loan and the debt is 
carried forward.  Perpetual indebtedness is not uncommon in these 
cases.  Debt arrangements are often verbal with tenants having no 
record of what they agreed to and no recourse for arbitration. 
There are specific instances of children being pledged or bonded in 
return for loans.  Commonly, children of bonded families do not 
attend school but participate in agricultural production. 
 
¶5. (U) Debt bondage and forced labor has also been reported in the 
brick kiln industry.  Some kiln owners, located mainly in Punjab and 
the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), use debt bondage to bind 
laborers to long-term work commitments.  Large debts, and therefore 
workers, may be transferred to other kiln owners.  The ILO alleges 
that kiln owners have been known to sell workers to other kiln 
owners outright.  Family members, including young children, becoming 
liable for debts in cases of worker death or disability.  The ILO 
reports that kiln laborers in debt bondage to kiln owners do not 
believe that they or their children would ever be free of the debt. 
 
 
¶6. (U) Lahore-based NGO Sudhaar reports that forced and child labor 
does exist in the carpet weaving and glass bangle making industries, 
although there is no data to quantify to what extent.  Neither the 
ILO nor NGOs operating in Pakistan reported child or bonded labor in 
the garment and textile industry.  According to Sudhaar, child and 
forced labor in the carpet industry occurs in the informal sector. 
Individual looms are located in private homes and weavers are paid 
in advance for their carpets.  Anecdotal reports indicate that in 
some cases, carpet brokers target families in economic need, 
providing loans in exchange for weaving services.  As with other 
industries, it is often difficult for families to repay the terms of 
the loan and debt bondage can ensue.  Sudhaar identified Sindh 
province's Thar desert region as having a high incidence of forced 
child labor in the carpet industry. 
 
¶7. (U) Pakistan has ratified all eight core ILO labor conventions, 
including conventions on the prohibition of forced labor 
(Conventions 29 and 105) and child labor (Convention 182).  The GOP 
enacted a Bonded Labor System Abolition Act in 1992, outlawing 
bonded labor and canceling existing bonded debts.  The use of child 
bonded labor is punishable by up at five years in prison and a USD 
800 fine.  Pakistani courts do not recognize the legality of loans 
in exchange for labor.  Although bonded laborers have the legal 
right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus and freedom from 
 
ISLAMABAD 00002064  002 OF 002 
 
 
bonded labor, few cases have been recorded.  Implementation of 
anti-bonded labor laws remains inconsistent, as most bonded laborers 
lack an understanding of their basic legal rights.  The GOP has made 
some effort to address forced labor in the agricultural sector, 
freeing 850 families from private debt prisons in Sindh province in 
¶2005.  The Ministry of Labor is in the process of simplifying 
Pakistan's 74 separate labor laws, incorporating them into five 
broad pieces of legislation.  This process has been underway since 
the passage of the 2002 Labor Policy.  The first of these bills, 
aimed at codifying core labor rights, will be sent to the National 
Assembly following Cabinet approval. 
 
PATTERSON