Christian Family of Ten Released from Enslavement in Brick Kiln
A Christian family of ten has been freed after a decade of enslavement in a brick kiln in Pakistan.
A Christian family who were forced to work in a brick kiln in Pakistan for ten years has finally been liberated from this exploitation through judicial intervention. The brick kiln is owned by a Muslim man named “Jahangir Baig.”
“Mushtaq Gill,” founder of the LEAD Ministries charity organization in Pakistan, spoke about the rescue of this ten-member family: “This family was forced into hard labor at the brick kiln in the ‘Foul Nagar’ area of Kasur district, Punjab, due to unpaid ancestral debts. With court support, they were freed from multi-generational debt bondage.” He also warned: “Jahangir Baig, the brick kiln owner, despite judicial action, continues to create an atmosphere of terror for this family through his threats.”
The family’s father, named “Asif Masih,” along with his wife “Sajdi Bijbi” and their children, despite being freed from this modern slavery, remain concerned about their security.
Reverend “Imran Amanat,” one of the officials of the aforementioned organization, thanked those involved in this operation and, while emphasizing the necessity of combating forced labor or modern slavery, stated: “We demand more decisive action against exploitative employers who continue to exploit people in industries such as brick manufacturing.”
The systematic challenge of forced labor, or modern slavery, in Pakistan is a longstanding problem that continues to persist, in which successive generations of families are subjected to forced labor under the pretext of inherited debts. Mushtaq Gill, while expressing concern about this systemic challenge, stated: “The Christian community, which comprises only a small percentage of Pakistan’s population, are the primary victims of this exploitative system.”
The Christian community in Pakistan lives in poverty, a situation that has led to systematic abuse by employers, trapping them in modern slavery. Although Pakistan has laws against forced labor, enforcement of these laws in Pakistan is very weak. According to Global Slavery Index reports, approximately 2.3 million people (one percent of Pakistan’s population) are engaged in forced labor. According to claims by the “Bonded Labour Liberation Front” organization in Lahore, the actual figures are much higher than these numbers.
The Punjab Province Labor Department has also described forced labor, in which workers are pressured by creditors to accept and endure inhumane conditions, as a “debt-based system.”
Mushtaq Gill, while criticizing this definition, stated: “These legal definitions have not changed the daily reality of workers who are born and die in the cycle of debt for generations. Despite international attention to this problem in a country with a Muslim majority, practical measures to eradicate this exploitative system have been severely inadequate.”
The liberation of this family through judicial intervention comes at a time when many Christian couples have been burned to death in these kilns due to the prejudice of Pakistani Muslims, yet no news of their deaths has ever been published.
