uhammad Zahid works in one of Pakistan’s 20,000 brick kilns. Having watched his father toil as a brick kiln labourer, Zahid finds himself in the same predicament. His children too have joined him at the kiln. “It’s incredibly tough working here, but we do not have a choice,” forty-year-old Zahid says. He says he began working at a kiln in the Vehari district at the age of seven, alongside his father. Now employed at a kiln just over 20 kilometres from Multan, Zahid is required to produce 1,000 bricks a day. For this he receives Rs 1,000. “If I fall sick, face an emergency or am unable to work due to a personal reason, those days are added to the advance [loan collateralised against work],” he says. “During the harsh summer, we work from midnight to 10 am because it’s impossible to work in the afternoon.”

Bonded labour, a form of forced labour, is driven by poverty and involves individuals working to repay a debt. The amount owed often spirals beyond reach, trapping the workers and their children in a cycle of debt. Zahid’s family, including his wife and four children, also work at the kiln. “From June till September, the kilns are closed due to the frequent rains so that we live off the debt,” Zahid says. “The amount of debt keeps growing year after year. I don’t see any hope for our family.”

The International Labour Organisation highlights the grave issue of forced labour, noting that it generates $236 billion in illegal profits annually. According to the ILO report Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour, released in March 2024, with $35 billion profits, the sector with the highest annual illegal profits from forced labour is industry. This is followed by services ($20.8 billion), agriculture ($5.0 billion) and domestic work ($2.6 billion). These profits should belong to the workers but remain in the hands of their exploiters.

Globally, the International Labour Organisation estimates that on any given day in 2021, 27.6 million people were engaged in forced labour. Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people in forced labour increased by 2.7 million. The situation has worsened significantly with estimates suggesting that over 30 million people are trapped in forced labour in 2024. Forced labour involving women and girls is particularly worrying since it renders them highly vulnerable to exploitation.

“I have worked in these fields my entire life. My daughters will continue this work. This cycle will continue because this is our destiny.” Shamim Bibi, a mother of five, says. “We leave for the fields at 6am and return home at 6pm. We earn between Rs 200 to Rs 300 a day, but there are days when we get no payment, leaving us helpless,” she says. Diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, Shamim says she does not hope to get proper treatment. “This is my fate,” she concludes.

Basti Araiyan Waali, five kilometres from Tatay Pur – a small town in the Punjab, seems like a small forgotten corner of the world where women of all ages work in the fields – from twelve-year-olds to sixty five-year-olds. The cycle of exploitation is entrenched and unending. Poverty and lack of education trap women in this vicious cycle. At fifteen, Shamim was forced into relentless labour. Now, as a mother of five, she struggles alongside others. With no opportunities for change, these women face a future of endless toil and unfulfilled dreams.

Women in southern Punjab have a crucial role in farming, from soil preparation to harvesting. Sixteen-year-old Hasna, Shamim’s daughter, has resigned herself to the same fate as has her seventeen-year-old sister, Mehwish. “We completed Grade 8 of schooling but couldn’t pursue education any further. Our mother wants to marry us off as soon as possible. We will continue working long hours in the field even after marriage. Nothing will change for us,” says Hasna.

The poverty rate in Pakistan has surged from 34.2 percent in 2022 to 39.4 percent in 2023, according to the latest World Bank data. This increase is partly attributed to the prevalence of forced labour and unjust treatment in various sectors, especially agriculture.

Forced labour is a criminal offence under the constitution of Pakistan and a serious violation of fundamental human rights. The ILO defines forced labour as situations where an employer deducts more than the worker’s wages or if the wage is not paid directly to the worker. It also includes cases where workers are forced to exceed legally mandated overtime hours. Such conditions are pervasive in the lives of those burdened by debt and trapped in a cycle of poverty and exploitation.

On the occasion of the release of the report Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour, Gilbert F Houngbo, ILO’s director general, had said: “We now know that the situation has only gotten worse. The international community must urgently come together to take action to end this injustice, safeguard workers’ rights and uphold the principles of fairness and equality for all.”

The writer is a freelance journalist in Multan. She contributes blogs and multimedia reports to various digital media platforms