Topic: 2024-Forced Labour
Country: Pakistan
Delegate Name: Matthew Chan
Pakistan, like many other countries, recognizes the importance of combating forced labor and has implemented various laws and regulations to protect workers’ rights and address this issue. Even though Pakistan has acknowledged this human rights violation, it is still being commonly practiced in Pakistan because of legal enforcement, financial conditions, and lack of awareness.
With recent actions, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992, which prohibits bonded labor, a form of forced labor where individuals are forced to work in exchange for a loan or advance. This law aims to protect workers from exploitation and ensure that they are not trapped in a cycle. Furthermore, the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Act, 2018, prohibits human trafficking, which is a form of forced labor where individuals are recruited, transported, transferred, harbored, or received through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. However, despite these laws and regulations, forced labor continues to exist in various areas in Pakistan. For example, bonded labor is found in more rural areas where they are less educated about their rights. Workers are forced to work long hours for little or no pay in order to repay their debt. Child labor is also common in hazardous occupations such as brick kilns, carpet weaving, and agriculture, where children are forced to work long hours and are subjected to poor working conditions.
Pakistan has now taken many steps to combat the problem of forced labor. Laws like the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992, and the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Protection and rehabilitation) Act, 2018, have been created to protect innocent civilians who are taken advantage of and to ensure that people will not be exploited for financial gain any longer. Pakistan will move forward in eliminating forced labor through educating their civilians and implementing stricter policies.
