HYDERABAD: Shaikh Bhirkiyo police raided a brick kiln near Shaikh Bhirkiyo on 4th April and recovered 33 bonded labourers who were reportedly being forced to work without wages.
The police acted on the orders of the sessions court Tando Muhammad Khan, which received a complaint from Mano Bheel, a resident of Umerkot, requesting the recovery of his relatives from illegal captivity.
Shaikh Bhirkiyo police raided the kiln owned by Alsam Pathan, and rescued the labourers, who included children, women and men. The adult men and women were identified as Shankar, Khemo Bheel, Narsing, Pardeep, Ms Hema, Ms Sapna and others. Police officials said that the rescued labourers would be produced before the judge in the session’s court. The labourers told reporters that they had been working on the farm for a year, but they had not been paid for their work. They were subjected to forced labour and physical abuse and were not allowed to leave the farm, they said.
They appealed to authorities to provide them justice, ensure that they received their wages and appropriate action was taken against the kiln owners.
Akram Khaskheli, president of Hari Welfare Association, voiced deep concern over the persistent and widespread practice of debt bondage despite enactment of the Sindh Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 2015. He said in a statement that the District Vigilance Committees established under the Act in every district had failed to play a significant role in rescuing, protecting and rehabilitating bonded labourers. Between 2013 and 2023, a total of 12,116 bonded labourers, including 4,134 children and 4,037 women, were freed from the clutches of landlords in Sindh, he informed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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