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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 000020 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ELAB KTIP PK
SUBJECT: LABOR MINISTRY ACTIONS TO COMBAT BONDED LABOR 
HIGHLIGHTED IN NATIONAL CONFERENCES 
 
REF: A: ISLAMABAD 02576 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Federal Ministry of Labor, in 
collaboration with the International Labour Organisation and 
other stakeholders, hosted two conferences on bonded labor. 
Government officials, employers, donors and civil society 
came together at a December 15-16 conference in Lahore to 
discuss current interventions and ways forward for the 
elimination of bonded labor, especially in the provinces of 
Punjab and Sindh which display the highest incidence of 
bonded labor abuses. A December 21-22 Karachi conference 
focused on the final stages of a legislative review and the 
GOP's draft amendment to the 1992 Bonded Labor System 
(Abolition) Act. Government officials, employer 
organizations, NGOs, donors, judges, police and legal experts 
attended the review. These conferences, which brought to 
light GOP efforts to tackle debt labor abuses and GOP 
willingness to consult and collaborate with stakeholders, 
also indicate a need to support socio-economic empowerment 
programs that address bonded labor in Punjab and Sindh where 
there are indications of increasing militant recruitment. End 
Summary. 
 
------------------------------------- 
BONDED LABOR INTERVENTIONS CONFERENCE 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U)The Federal Ministry of Labor, in collaboration with 
multiple stake holders, hosted a conference on bonded labor 
interventions December 15 and 16 in Lahore. Attendees 
included representatives from federal and provincial 
ministries of labor and social welfare, legal advisors and 
representatives from Lahore and Peshawar Brick Kiln Owners 
Associations, the Employers Federation of Pakistan, the 
Pakistan Workers Federation, and the following donors and 
NGOs: 
¶1. Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child 
(SPARC) 
¶2. Bhandar Hari Sanghat 
¶3. Bunyad 
¶4. Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research 
¶5. National Rural Support Programme 
¶6. Punjab Rural Support Programme 
¶7. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 
¶8. Pak Swedish Teachers Association 
¶9. Trocaire 
¶10. International Labour Organisation (ILO) 
 
¶3. (U) While attendees discussed interventions in both Punjab 
and Sindh, of central focus was the Punjab government funded 
project: Elimination of Bonded Labour in Brick Kilns. (Note: 
The highest incidence of bonded labor is found in Punjab and 
Sindh. After agriculture, bonded labor is most used in the 
brick kiln industry. End note.) Initiated at the end of 2008, 
this two year 1.4 million dollar GOP project has enabled 
nearly 11,000 workers to obtain Computerized National 
Identity Cards (CNICs) and has issued $118,000 in 
interest-free microfinance loans to help workers pay off 
loans taken from employers. (Note: These are significant 
steps because a CNIC is the first step towards voting 
privileges and social security and other legal benefits. 
Microfinance loans also provide workers with an alternative 
to borrowing from the employer, thus increasing their wages. 
Typically a worker who has taken a loan from the employer 
only receives a percentage of his wages, until he has paid 
off all debts. End note.) 
 
¶4. (U) This project also seeks to increase worker access to 
other welfare benefits, conduct a census of brick kiln 
families and provide education to workers' children. The 
Punjab Labour Department, through other programs, has also 
registered nearly 200 brick kilns and 6,000 workers to take 
steps to better regulate the industry. It also funds Legal 
Aid Service Units that disseminate labor rights awareness 
materials, operates a helpline and provides counseling to 
freed bonded laborers, registering over 150 cases in 2009. 
 
¶5. (U) In addition to highlighting current initiatives, 
conference attendees discussed future steps toward the 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000020  002 OF 003 
 
 
elimination of bonded labor. Stakeholders agreed it will be a 
lengthy process and that poverty and the socially-ingrained 
practice of employer lending are at the root of the problem. 
The Brick Kiln Owners Association and the Employers 
Federation of Pakistan pointed out the need to establish 
written work contracts and to provide more training to 
judiciary, police and labor officials to better detect 
abusive labor practices. Civil society members noted that 
alternative housing options could reduce laborers' 
vulnerability and isolation if they did not have to live on 
brick kiln properties. (Note: Nearly all brick kiln workers 
live on the property and migrate from kiln to kiln, which are 
typically in rural areas. End note.) Several government 
officials also raised the issue of laborers who use NGO and 
police assistance to take advantage of employers' lending by 
taking loans, seeking police-assisted release from the 
employer, and then moving on to another kiln where they 
repeat the practice. (Note: Police and NGOs have confirmed to 
PolOff that this occurs. End note.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
BONDED LABOR ABOLITION ACT LEGISLATIVE REVIEW 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The December 21-22 conference in Karachi focused 
specifically on the Ministry of Labor's ongoing legislative 
review and draft amendment to the 1992 Bonded Labor System 
(Abolition) Act (BLAA). Government representatives came from 
federal and provincial labor departments, the federal 
Ministry of Human Rights, and provincial home and information 
departments. Police and district judges also came from Punjab 
and Sindh. (Note: Police and judiciary are often the 
first-responders in cases seeking the release of bonded 
laborers. End note.) The Pakistan Workers Federation, the 
Employers Federation of Pakistan and the same NGOs and donors 
from the Lahore conference attended. 
 
¶7. (U) Ministry of Labor efforts to draft an amendment to the 
Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act stem from legislative and 
technical deficiencies that hinder the Act's implementation. 
As ILO, NGO and government officials noted, the definition of 
bonded labor is vague, penalties are too low, and offenses 
are bailable. Furthermore, the Act empowers District 
Magistrates to take the lead in trying cases; however this is 
a position now defunct after changes to the local government 
structure. Most importantly, police, NGOs and government 
officials noted that the law does not offer realistic 
alternatives to the centuries-old employer lending system 
(locally referred to as a "paishgi" - "advance") which, 
combined with traditional share-cropping practices in 
agriculture, renders any real elimination of bonded labor in 
Pakistan unfeasible. 
 
¶8. (U) Much of the conference centered on the debate about 
the advances that landowners and employers in brick kilns and 
other industries give to workers. (Note: Workers use these 
loans to finance labor activity and personal expenditures. 
However, due to laborers' illiteracy and lack of other 
assets, an employer can easily take advantage and lock 
families into generations of debt. End note.) Brick Kiln 
Owners Associations and NGOs alike stated that the paishgi 
system should be eliminated. Some government officials 
expressed resistance to a simple abolition of the system 
noting that an alternative lending system would become 
necessary and that while many might expect the government to 
fill that gap, realistically it might not be able to. 
 
¶9. (U) While the topic of the paishgi system was not 
resolved, recommendations were made to amend the Bonded Labor 
System (Abolition) Act. Namely, the ILO and NGOs proposed 
raising the minimum sentencing of a perpetrator of bonded 
labor to two years with a minimum fine of 20,000 rupees 
($250). They also recommended transferring the District 
Magistrate responsibilities to the District Nazim (mayor). 
(Note: On-going reforms to the local government structure in 
all four provinces may make this recommendation obsolete. 
End Note)  The conference finished with the Ministry of Labor 
stating that its National Steering Committee on Labor will 
meet in January to continue drafting the amendment. 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000020  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: These conferences demonstrate GOP and 
civil society dedication to address labor abuses, even at a 
time when the country is confronting a national security 
crisis and facing constant attacks on government facilities. 
GOP willingness to consult and collaborate with the entire 
array of stakeholders is a positive sign. However, while the 
conferences focused on the bonded labor practices taking 
place in Punjab and Sindh, noticeably missing from the 
discussed interventions were efforts to address the 
share-cropping and lending practices in agriculture that lead 
to bonded labor abuses. A lack of interventions to combat 
these labor abuses in the agricultural sector will be due to 
the fact that the brick kiln industry is easier to monitor 
and has government-set minimum wages under the Factory Act, 
while there is little government monitoring of agricultural 
labor. Nevertheless, there is a need to support efforts to 
better regulate and encourage moving away from debt labor 
systems, both in the brick kilns and in agriculture in 
Pakistan. As was raised during both conferences, the poor, 
illiterate populations who suffer the most are in dire need 
of services and programs that will provide economic and 
educational empowerment to ensure their social mobility that 
will allow Pakistan to someday be able to eradicate debt 
labor practices. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Furthermore, USG strategic goals in Pakistan would 
be adversely affected if we failed to pay sufficient 
attention to the bonded labor abuses occurring in Punjab and 
Sindh. Bonded labor, especially in agriculture, is found in 
the very geographic areas where social safety nets are 
disappearing and militant extremists groups, such as 
Lashkar-e-Taiba, are recruiting the poor, disaffected 
ever-growing youth population. (Ref A) NGOs in Sindh already 
cite militant recruitment presence. At the same time militant 
groups in Southern Punjab's agricultural belt, with 
nation-wide networks, have recently begun to develop ties 
with the Taliban. Without alternatives that offer a brighter 
future, the youth of Punjab and Sindh may turn away from the 
traditional debt-binding labor practices to the militant 
groups that offer them more status and prestige. End Comment. 
PATTERSON