Rights group raises alarm over debt bondage of poor communities across Pakistan

Berlin, April 30 A leading international human rights organisation has highlighted the plight of the poorest section in Pakistan, including a disproportionate number of Christians, who are often trapped in debt bondage after taking cash advances from “dubious” moneylenders in times of need, without being informed of the terms and conditions.

Germany-based International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) said that individuals with no literacy are unaware of the risks involved in the loan agreement and are compelled to repay the debt through labour.

“Due to high interest rates and low wages, those affected often become increasingly indebted. Debt bondage is not merely an economic issue. It is a form of modern slavery in which people toil endlessly under oppressive conditions without any hope of escape," the rights body noted.

According to ISHR, Pakistani human rights activist Sajid Christopher of the Human Friends Organisation (HFO), in an email on February 3, expressed concern over a Christian family in Pakistan, who have been suffering under the burden of debt bondage for an unusually long time.

He mentioned that 72-year-old Javed Masih has spent more than three decades working at brick kilns, enduring persistent exhaustion from the hard physical labour and continuous struggle for basic survival.

“You can see from his skin that the brickworks dust has settled on it, and the weight of the bricks has bent his shoulders. The days at the brickyard begin before sunrise. Javed Masih and his family work in the summer heat, where every step kicks up dust, and in the winter until they can no longer feel their hands," the rights body quoted Christopher as saying.

The ISHR cited the activist, stating that a loan taken in desperation to ensure basic survival grew into an unmanageable debt, leaving Javed with a debt of Pakistani Rs 399,756, an amount far beyond his ability to repay.

“This debt binds him to the brickyard and keeps him trapped in a cycle where his work contributes not to his family’s progress, but to servicing a debt that never diminishes,” Christopher added.

The rights body said workers like Javed Masih are deprived of their rights and opportunities, with such conditions often extending into the next generations.

Citing a report by the US State Department, the ISHR said 4.5 million people in Pakistan toil like slaves, not only in brick factories but also as farm labourers and domestic servants, while more than one million children are forced to assist their parents, depriving them of education and healthy development.

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