Pakistan ranks sixth on Global Slavery Index

[janon]

But better than India...

India is the leader in slavery index.

Only 1.13% of Pakistanis are slaves, but 1.14% of Indians are enslaved - yay, what a fabulous victory! Congrats, both of you - and anybody else who feels happy about this.

 

[Asian.Century]

No, slavery in Pakistan has nothing to do with India. Telling the truth does not make you lose your "pakistaniyat".

Naah, if you read Norwegians posts here, all r politically motivated posts against PMLN. It is not telling truth but a desperate malign attempt to subdue a major political party. you can see the real truth here....just open ur both eyes please.

 

[Norwegian]

What is "prevalence index"?

The table below shows the prevalence of slavery, based on the percentage of the population enslaved and the estimated number of people enslaved by country. For more information on how to interpret the table or sort the data presented, please click on the help button.
Findings - Walk Free Foundation - Global Slavery Index 2014

 

[Pakistani E]

Naah, if you read Norwegians posts here, all our politically motivated posts against PMLN. It is not telling truth but a desperate malign attempt to subdue a major political party. you can see the real truth here....just open ur both eyes please.

My eyes have been open since I was born. PMLN are part of the problem, same old status quo taking turns. But PTI is no different in my eyes. All political parties in Pakistan are responsible for the mess we are in.

 

[Norwegian]

Naah, if you read Norwegians posts here, all our politically motivated posts against PMLN. It is not telling truth but a desperate malign attempt to subdue a major political party. you can see the real truth here....just open ur both eyes please.

Nothing to do with PMLN or I would have posted this in Siasat Section. Its a social issue and comprises entire society of Pakistan from Karachi to Lahore to Peshawar to Gilgit-Baltistan.

 

[TankMan]

The problem is that this slavery is so multi-layered, it's not as simple as 'bad people forcing innocent people to work'. It's very, very complicated. You have issues such as parents sending their children off to work because they can't afford to feed them, or because one parent is dead or has some disability that makes it impossible for them to work, then you have the issue of girls and their forced marriage by the tribals, and since they work in the home they are definitely counted by these western surveys as slaves.

The thing is that lumping all this into one category is counter-productive. The root causes, however, are the same for the majority for these cases: Poverty, lack of education and desperation (due to a number of factors including unemployment, lack of facilities etc.). But still, since we obviously can not solve these issues overnight, we need to take a rational approach to this complex problem. Eventually, slowly but surely these problems will fade and so will slavery. But it's our responsibility to put our communities on the right track.

There is nothing to be happy about that Pakistan has a lower percentage than India, that is just plain retarded. Pakistan is nowhere near where it should be in terms of development. A thoughtful, rational and non-political approach could eradicate such issues in a matter of a couple of decades. We should focus on trying to achieve that, not to make ourselves feel happy over some stupid fraction of a percent.

 

[Orakzai]

Pakistan ranks sixth highest on the second edition of the 2014 Global Slavery Index (GSI), compiled by Australia-based campaign Walk Free.
According to the report released worldwide on Monday, Pakistan not only ranks sixth in terms of the prevalence of modern slavery, it is host to the third highest population of enslaved people in the world.
Some 2 million Pakistanis – roughly 1.130% of the country’s population – especially children and bonded labourers, are thought to be enslaved, according to the report.
The report defines modern slavery as involving “one person possessing or controlling another person in such a way as to significantly deprive that person of their individual liberty, with the intention of exploiting that person through their use, management, profit, transfer or disposal.”
According to new methodology adopted by the organisation to gauge modern slavery, some 35.8 million people are currently trapped in modern-day slavery, more than originally thought.
“There is an assumption that slavery is an issue from a bygone era. Or that it only exists in countries ravaged by war and poverty,” said Andrew Forrest, chairman of the Australian-based Walk Free Foundation which produced the report.
Situation in Pakistan
Terming debt-bondage as the most prevalent form of modern slavery in Pakistan, the report identified Punjab and Sindh as hotspots of bonded labour, with brick making, agriculture, and carpet weaving industries leading destination for such ‘slaves’.
According to the report, Pakistan ranks sixth on index in terms of prevalence in the country with 1.130 per cent of total population trapped under modern slavery.
The situation gets worse in when gauged in terms of number of enslaved in the country. With over 2 million people ‘enslaved’, Pakistan is ranked third on the index by number of people.
By contrast, Pakistan is behind India which leads the index in terms of enslaved people with 14.286 million people trapped in modern slavery (1.141 per cent of population with a rank of seven on prevalence index). China is ranked second on index in terms of enslaved people with 3.241 million people trapped in modern slavery (0.239 per cent of the population with a rank of 109 on the prevalence index).
Citing a recent media report, which estimated that the brick kiln industry in Pakistan employs around 4.5 million people across the country, the index said that the majority of brick kiln workers in Punjab are bonded labourers. The report further claims that although brick kilns now fall under provincial labour departments owing to the 18th amendment, half of the approximately 10,500 brick kilns in Punjab remain unregistered.
Decrying provincial governments’ lack of interest, despite the devolution of powers to the provinces, including responsibility for labour, child protection, and women’s protection after the 18th amendment in the Constitution, the report said that there is no single national-level body exists to oversee a coordinated response to the modern slavery challenges that Pakistan faces.
Cross-border human trafficking remains under the purview of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control, but there is no national level mechanism to address internal trafficking, said report.
It also referred to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s report which claims that in Sindh and Punjab provinces some bonded labourers in brick kilns are “either kept in captivity by armed guards or their family members become virtual hostages.”
The report identifies unofficial work contracts between farmers and landlords in Sindh as the prime cause of slavery. Farmers, who are referred as ‘Hari’ under these unofficial contracts, are required to give up their entire yield to the landlords who employ them and are paid only in produce. In order to meet living costs beyond food and shelter, these farmers are forced to borrow money from their landlord, which reinforces the cycle of poverty, debt and forced labour.
It further reveals that approximately 10 million child workers exist in Pakistan out of which 3.8 million are aged between five and 14 years old.
The report also identified extreme poverty and unemployment as a major reason for families selling their children into commercial sɘxual exploitation; some of the children sold as young as 10 years old. Despite the social stigma and shame associated with commercial sɘx in the country, local NGOs have noted a rise in forced prostitution and commercial sɘxual exploitation of children.
The trafficking of men and women for forced labour, sɘxual exploitation and forced marriages to suitors from the Gulf and Europe have also been identified as a contributing factor in the continuation of modern slavery in the country.
Alarmingly, the report claims that as many 69.5 per cent of total population remains vulnerable to modern slavery owing to weak rule of law, wide spread corruption, and poverty reinforced political, social, and economic structures of modern slavery in the country.
The report proposed that a single agency, with Cabinet-level representation of the federal and provincial governments, create a single, integrated national strategy to end slavery, with an appropriate plan and budget. The report further recommended that the government enforce registration and regulation of brick kilns and other workplaces and payment of the minimum wage to brick kiln and other workers.
Last year, Pakistan was ranked third on the list, though a number of new countries have been added and the methodology has been changed since then.
Situation around the world
2014 Global Slavery Index (GSI), which covers 167 countries, said modern slavery contributed to the production of at least 122 goods from 58 countries.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates profits from this forced labour are $150 billion (120 billion euros) a year.
“From the Thai fisherman trawling fishmeal, to the Congolese boy mining diamonds, from the Uzbek child picking cotton, to the Indian girl stitching footballs… their forced labour is what we consume,” read the report.
The biggest offender, with the highest proportion of its population enslaved, remains the west African nation Mauritania, where slavery of black Moors by Berber Arabs is an entrenched part of society.
Mauritania has anti-slavery legislation but it is rarely enforced and a special tribunal set up in March has yet to prosecute any cases, the report said.
In second place was Uzbekistan where, every autumn, the government forces over one million people, including children, to harvest cotton.
Countries like Qatar in the Middle East were a major destination for men and women from Africa and Asia who are lured with promises of well-paid jobs only to find themselves exploited as domestic workers or in the construction industry.
The countries doing the most to combat the problem were the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Georgia, and Austria.
Europe, while at the bottom of the list — with Iceland and Ireland the best ranked — has 566,000 people involved in forms of modern slavery, with people trafficked into Ireland to grow cannabis, or forced into begging in France.
“Trafficking for commercial sɘxual exploitation accounted for almost 70 per cent of identified victims while trafficking for forced labour accounted for 19 per cent,” read the report.
“The global economic crisis and austerity measures of the EU have meant that increasing numbers of Bulgarians and Romanians migrate in search of highly paid jobs. Some of these workers can be tricked or coerced into situations of exploitation.”
The highest numbers of modern slaves were found in India with an estimated 14.29 million enslaved.
However the Index said India had recently taken important steps to combat the problem, strengthening its criminal justice framework through legislative amendments and increasing the number of its Anti-Human Trafficking Police Units.
Africa faces some of the biggest challenges, the report said, with armed forces and rebel groups from Somalia to the Central African Republic using child soldiers to mineral-rich Zambia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo forcing children and adults to “labour in dangerous mines.”
Nigeria is a major source of human trafficking to Europe. In one example, Nigerian women get trapped in a cycle of debt bondage in the Italian sɘx industry.
“These findings show that modern slavery exists in every country. We are all responsible for the most appalling situations where modern slavery exists and the desperate misery it brings upon our fellow human beings,” said Forrest.
Pakistan ranks sixth on Global Slavery Index – The Express Tribune

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Mashallah all credit goes to Champion of democracy.

 

[Dubious]

 

[Norwegian]

India is the leader in slavery index.

@Norwegian In your hate against PMLN and humiliation PTI faced, you have forgot ur Pakistaniat too. I would advise you to be Pakistani first, and a political slave second, of a cult party called PTI.

Even a cult party who blindly follows messiah Imran Khan is better partiots than you(@Norwegian ) at some instances, they donot malign Pakistan openly like this.

Nothing to do with India. As a Muslim majority nation that was created to follow Islamic values and principles of anti-slavery, its absurd you patwaris are comparing your nation with India? We were supposed to be an exemplary Muslim nation state of justice and virtue, not to become 6th best in slavery!

 

[janon]

Well in the case of child labour, it is mainly due to wages being so low that a single wage earger can't feed his 6-7 kids AND send them to school. Top that up with no child benefits as such from the government, it leaves little choice for the poor but to send their kids to find work. This could be tackled via apprenticeships and increasing of wages, together with educating people and making education mandatory, but there is no will here. Politicians tell us that drone strikes and the name of the prime minister is more important then getting rid of poverty and combating ignorance. Mullahs tell us its more important to find a kafir or blasphemer. The army tells us we are at war. Jinnah's (rh) Pakistan died with him.

Unfortunately, it is not so easy that a new law can increase schoolgoing. I don't know about Pakistan, but India has a law called "right to education", that every child has a right to get at least secondary level education. But the law didn't change the ground reality, that impoverished parents found it more beneficial to send the children to work than to school.

One factor which radically improved schoolgoing over the past ten years, was the govt's mid day meal scheme - all government schools provide one nutritious meal a day to the students. That was a big incentive for parents to send them to school, because the wages earned by a young child doing manual labour couldn't buy even that one meal. So economically it made sense to send them to school. There has been a tremendous improvement in enrollment and decrease in malnutrition due to that.

So my point is that a law can do practically nothing, but giving them the right incentives can. Make it better for people to send their children to school, rather than to work. Ithink that paying impoverished families a monthly stipend on the condition that their children will attend school regularly, would work. If the govt pays them a little more than what a child can earn, logic dictates that parents would want children to go to school.

And I'm pretty sure that that investment (stipend to families) would bring a lot more value to the country in the long run. In 10-15 years, you will have a huge pool of educated workforce entering the job market.

 

[Pride]

But better than India...

Wow! What a proud moment? After all jealousy has its own benefit.

On topic, This is one area where our govt need to focus but then they are focusing on filling their pocket. Shame on our govts.

 

[Pakistani E]

Unfortunately, it is not so easy that a new law can increase schoolgoing. I don't know about Pakistan, but India has a law called "right to education", that every child has a right to get at least secondary level education. But the law didn't change the ground reality, that impoverished parents found it more beneficial to send the children to work than to school.

One factor which radically improved schoolgoing over the past ten years, was the govt's mid day meal scheme - all government schools provide one nutritious meal a day to the students. That was a big incentive for parents to send them to school, because the wages earned by a young child doing manual labour couldn't buy even that one meal. So economically it made sense to send them to school. There has been a tremendous improvement in enrollment and decrease in malnutrition due to that.

So my point is that a law can do practically nothing, but giving them the right incentives can. Make it better for people to send their children to school, rather than to work. Ithink that paying impoverished families a monthly stipend on the condition that their children will attend school regularly, would work. If the govt pays them a little more than what a child can earn, logic dictates that parents would want children to go to school.

And I'm pretty sure that that investment (stipend to families) would bring a lot more value to the country in the long run. In 10-15 years, you will have a huge pool of educated workforce entering the job market.

I absolutely agree, but the reason I didn't mention this is because it's linked with how many funds the government can get. Last time I checked, not even 2% of the Pakistani population paid any taxes. Then we look down on any government that goes to IMF or the US or Saudi.
Personally I think India is an example to follow on many things, this is one of them. Both countries should cooperate in these matters, wars are a waste of money and so 20th century. Business is the future.

 

[ranjeet]

India is the leader in slavery index.

@Norwegian In your hate against PMLN and humiliation PTI faced, you have forgot ur Pakistaniat too. I would advise you to be Pakistani first, and a political slave second, of a cult party called PTI.

Even a cult party who blindly follows messiah Imran Khan is better partiots than you(@Norwegian ) at some instances, they donot malign Pakistan openly like this.

we Indians know our short comings and we don't shy away taking them head on. You might accuse of @Norwegian of being IK blind supporter but speaking truth and discussing it openly take guts.

 

[ranjeet]

well this was quite deep

 

[Norwegian]

Last time I checked, not even 2% of the Pakistani population paid any taxes. Then we look down on any government that goes to IMF or the US or Saudi.

Why shouldn't we? If PMLN is in federal government, where is its writ of state? If only 2 % Pakistanis pay taxes, what's hindering this 2/3 majority government from making more strict taxation laws and actually implementing them? Oh, I forgot, majority of these lawmakers themselves pay none to pennies in taxes

we Indians know our short comings and we don't shy away taking them head on. You might accuse of @Norwegian of being IK blind supporter but speaking truth and discussing it openly take guts.

I have told them before I do not blindly support IK. I have serious issues with him on Qadiani religion and other minorities, yet these PDF'ers do not stop denouncing me as blind supporter of IK