Demand enforcement of anti-slavery laws, protection for workers, and the end of generational debt bondage.

 

Across Pakistan, millions of men, women, and children are trapped in bonded labor at brick kilns — a modern-day form of slavery that steals childhoods, destroys families, and denies people their basic human dignity.

Despite Pakistan’s own laws banning forced labour and the peshgi (debt-advance) system, these abuses continue every single day. Entire families work 12–16 hours in extreme heat, inhaling dust and smoke, earning wages too low to survive — let alone repay their debts. Many never leave. Their children grow up in the same cycle of debt, poverty, and exploitation.

No human being should be forced into debt bondage. No child should spend their days molding bricks instead of going to school. No family should be trapped for generations simply because they accepted a small loan during a moment of desperation.

 

This must end now.

 

We call on the Government of Pakistan, provincial labour departments, human-rights commissions, and international labour agencies to:

1. Enforce existing anti-bonded-labour laws

Conduct regular inspections, prosecute offenders, and shut down kilns that hold workers in debt bondage.

2. Guarantee fair and transparent wages

Ensure brick-kiln workers receive legally mandated minimum wages, paid on time, with written pay records.

3. Abolish or strictly regulate the peshgi (advance) system

Stop predatory loans that trap families for generations. Ensure workers understand any contract and are never forced into lifelong debt.

4. Issue national identity cards and social-security enrollment for all kiln workers

This gives families access to healthcare, schools, legal protection, and government support — breaking the cycle of poverty.

5. Protect children from child labour

Remove children from kilns immediately and provide them with access to education, nutrition, and rehabilitation programs.

6. Provide support for freed families

Fund safe housing, education, job-training programs, and debt relief to help formerly bonded families rebuild their lives.

7. Increase transparency

Publish public reports on labour conditions, inspections, wages, and prosecutions — so the world can see progress and hold authorities accountable.

 

Brick-kiln workers are some of the most invisible and exploited people in the world. Many cannot read or write. Many don’t have the legal documents needed to leave their kiln, seek new work, or send their children to school.

Their voices are silenced — but ours are not.

A single signature raises awareness. Thousands of signatures create pressure. Millions of signatures force action.

Together, we can help end modern-day slavery and bring hope, dignity, and freedom to families who have suffered for far too long.

 

Sign and Share

Please sign this petition and share it widely.

Your voice can help free entire families from generational bondage.

Together, we can help create a Pakistan — and a world — where no one is born into slavery.