Trade unionists demand inquiry into bonded labour in Pakistan

Date: 05/03/1998

By Mark Turner

TRADE unions are calling on the European Commission to launch an in-depth investigation into bonded labour in Pakistan, claiming they have new documentary evidence proving the practice is “rampant”.

Under the system, people - often children - are compelled to work for one employer for long periods and sometimes for the rest of their lives. The practice is widespread in some developing countries as poverty forces parents to turn to unscrupulous operators for money.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) maintains that new evidence collected by a French journalist will “compel” the Commission to take action by suspending Pakistan's General System of Preferences (GSP) trade concessions.

“Despite mounting evidence, the EU has so far refused to investigate,” said the ICFTU. “Its continuing failure to act on irrefutable evidence is condemning millions of adults and children to continuing misery in bonded labour.”

Commission officials argue the only way to address the problem is through constructive development policies implemented in tandem with the national authorities. They say that since the Union began putting pressure on Pakistan two years ago, the country has made considerable progress in implementing and enforcing legislation to halt the practice.

“Let us be clear about this. These problems are endemic all over Asia.

Pakistan is no different to India or Bangladesh,” said a senior south Asia expert. “Even EU member states have child labour. Basically these claims are linked to a fear of trade competition. People try to find any way to avoid imports threatening their industries.”

The Commission says that it has launched a 1-million-ecu pilot project in Pakistan to rescue children from dangerous labour conditions and to increase employers' awareness of social rights.

It has also invested considerable sums in improving primary education, and in the development of Pakistan's economy as a whole.

Officials argue that this approach is achieving far more than a heavy-handed investigation would. “You cannot see bonded labour with the naked eye. We cannot just send in our consultants and solve the problem,” said one expert. “We have already cooperated on an International Labour Organisation report. Mounting an EU investigation now would only be a hostile move against a country which is acting in a positive way.”