LABOR MINISTRY ACTIONS TO COMBAT BONDED LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 000021

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.

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BONDED LABOR INTERVENTIONS CONFERENCE
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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

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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.)

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BONDED LABOR ABOLITION ACT LEGISLATIVE REVIEW
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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.

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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