The hell of abuse and slavery in Pakistani brick kilns

01/17/2025, 19.52

Despite existing legislation, kilns are places of “inter-generational slavery”, circles of violence from which it is almost impossible to escape. Minority activist Joseph Janssen freed 32 people from six Christian families. Naseem, Mehwish and Safia and their relatives tell stories of decades of a hellish life. “We want justice, not only for our families, but also for those who still work there,” said Habib, one of the survivors.

Lahore (AsiaNews) – For hundreds of thousands of families in Pakistan, brick kilns are places of inter-generational slavery, where debts are passed on from parents to children, tying them to a life of hard work. In total, some 4.5 million people working in about 20,000 kilns are voiceless.

Although the country banned forced labour due to debt decades ago, the practice continues, hidden in the shadows and aggravated by economic crises and poor law enforcement. Sexual abuse, human trafficking and serious human rights violations further aggravate the injustice.

In response to this crisis, minority rights activist Joseph Janssen recently embarked on a new mission in Pakistan, with the aim of freeing some Christian families trapped in brick kilns bondage, seeking justice for women kidnapped and forcibly converted.

Working with local organisations, his team rescued 32 people, including children, seniors, and five women who had endured over a decade of sexual slavery. Following the rescue, Janssen is providing them with legal assistance to acquire official identity papers because many do not have them.

“This support brings hope for a life free from slavery, a life in which they can work for independence and regain control of their destiny,” he told AsiaNews.

However, the stories of Naseem, Mehwish, and Safia highlight a deeper issue, namely “The urgent need for Pakistan to enforce its laws, end sexual abuse and exploitation in these industries, and protect its most vulnerable workers.”

Naseem, threats and ongoing violence

Naseem, a mother of two sons and two daughters, said: “We can’t even send our children to school, they won’t let us. They said that our children had to do the same work for them, because we were their slaves.”

Even when they were ill, they were taken to work by force, abused and their husbands beaten. “If we refused to have sex with them, they threatened to kill our husbands and demand the amount of the debt back,” she added.

“When we made a thousand bricks in the kiln, they beat us, punished us, and forced us to make a thousand more bricks for them. We had to work fifteen or sixteen hours a day. My eight- and nine-year-old children were also forced to work with us,” Naseem said.

“They gave us less money in exchange for our work. They thought that if they gave us more money we could leave their brick kiln and escape from their slavery,” she added.

Naseem recalled an incident when all members of her family, including her husband and children, were sick and they had no money for medicine. She went to the accountant of the brick kiln and begged for money. In response, the accountant told her that if she had sex with him, he would give her money for her family’s medicine. She was also sick, but for her family she had to undergo that torture.

Mehwish, stalking and sexual violence

Another woman, Mehwish, told AsiaNews that “Every time we went to the bazaar to buy food, they followed us, thinking we might escape. They force us to sit on their motorcycles, take us to unknown places and rape us.”

When activist Joseph Janssen rescued her from slavery, the owner of the brick kiln filed an complaint against her, claiming that she had kidnapped a child from the kiln.

“I adopted a son from my sister and raised him for five years. After the complaint, the police arrived and snatched the child away from me; for a month I had to deal with panic attacks. After a month, with the help of Joseph Janssen, I saved my son.”

Safia, victim of abuse for decades

Some of the people rescued tells stories of unimaginable torments. One of these survivors, Safia, was victim of sexual abuse for decades.

Born into a life of hardship at a brick kiln, she started working alongside her parents from an early age. Her family was tied to the kiln by a debt her father contracted of about 100,000 rupees (about US$ 360), a burden that kept them slaves.

After marrying a workmate, she continued to work non-stop, enduring scorching heat every day while making bricks. However, her troubles were not limited to work. The owner of the brick kiln, Haji Abdul Ghafoor Ahmed, along with others, began sexually abusing her from the age of 12.

The sexual abuse continued even after her marriage, when her husband was absent, lasting 10 to 12 years, with threats of violence if she resisted. The physical and emotional scars were aggravated by the daily demand to make 2,000 bricks at temperatures of 48 degrees.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Safia said: “We were a total of six families of relatives who worked in Ghafoor Ahmed’s kiln. The owner of the kiln told us that our six families owed him 3.5 million rupees (US$ 12,560). They beat us, sexually abused us, and tortured our husbands, brothers, and fathers.

“In April 2023, the owner of the brick kiln made us a cunning offer. If all six families converted to Islam, he would free us from slavery and debt. If we didn’t accept his proposal, he would beat us and continue to sexually abuse our women.”

That same month, he called the local media to the brick kiln and had them converted in front of the cameras. “After that, he started to mistreat us. He told us that we had to give him 4 million (US$ 14,350) further increasing the figure. We found no help anywhere and were forced to live like slaves in his kiln.”

“The owner of the brick kiln, the watchman and the accountants raped us. They gave us drugs ordering us to give them to our husbands during the night and when they fell asleep they called us and raped us. Our past lives were a nightmare and we lived like hell at the brick kiln.”

Survivors demand justice

Khurram, Safia’s husband, told AsiaNews. “We are illiterate. They oppressed us with false debts. They mistreated us; They even tortured my 70-year-old father because he couldn’t make bricks anymore.  They did not allow us to go to church and forced us to offer Namaaz (Muslims’ prayer). They beat us because we didn’t fast in the month of Ramadan.”

Habib, 70, Khurram’s father, said: “My whole life has been spent in slavery. We had no dignity and respect, our women were not safe, they were brutally raped, but we could not do anything to save them.”

Every time they tried to stop the abuse, they were tortured, beaten and mistreated by the owners of the kilns.

“Finally Jesus sent us Joseph Janssen, who saved us in August 2024. He got us out of that quagmire of violence and disrespect. Since then he has kept changing out locations, six times for our safety, and provide us with food and good clothes.”

“We want justice, not only for our families, but also for those who still work there. I wish those monsters could no longer ruin the lives of any girl or woman,” Habib Masih said.

“We will make our statements before the judges of the courts and we will try to put these cruel people behind bars. I wish more people could work like our brother Joseph and save hundreds of lives that are enslaved in brick kilns.”