As inflation and unemployment has increased the parents have taken their children out of school and put them to work. While millions of children are out of school due to poverty. Unfortunately where other issues are not being addressed in the country, no adequate work has been done to end forced and child labor.
Even though on the contrary steps have been taken to end child labor worldwide.
Even countries like Bangladesh have controlled it to a great extent but our economic condition is so dire that child labor is increasing here every year, which is a slap on the face of our authorities.
According to experts there are many other reasons for child labor and forced labor in Pakistan. One of the reasons for this is the increasing population. Unless it is controlled, the process of taking forced labor from children cannot be stopped but this argument is also not strong enough.
If this happens, it can never be controlled in a country with a large population like Bangladesh, where not only forced labor has decreased but its economy has improved many levels than ours. In this regard the country director of ILO in Pakistan has given strong statements that the authorities should respect international conventions and take serious steps to eliminate the scourge of child labor from this country.
Pakistan has long ratified international labor conventions, yet the worst forms of child labor persist in the country. This problem requires special attention as it is closely related to the overall socio-economic and literacy strength of the country.
Due to which the incidents of street crimes and murders have also increased. 0n the other hand the citizens have started committing suicide due to the economic conditions, but the ruling class keeps leaving hopes that the situation in the country will improve soon but in reality forced labor Steps are not being taken to improve the living conditions of the citizens.
Experts say that there is a gap in the legislation to end forced labor in Pakistan. According to him, weak policies and lack of implementation in this regard have become the norm in the country. According to UNICEF a staggering 3.3 million children are victim’s form of child labor.
In rural areas children are forced to work in agricultural fields, while in urban areas, child and bonded labor occurs in factories especially in the textile manufacturing sector. In particular, these children are forced to work in dangerous conditions which have severe mental and physical effects on them later in life. The only way to end this culture of modern-day slavery is to crack down on it. Labor inspection teams need to tighten their assessment process and those involved in child labor should be given stricter punishments, including long jail terms.
It should be clearly stated by law enforcement agencies and the government that child labor is strictly prohibited because children cannot be treated as commodities. It is the responsibility of the state to uphold their rights and their dignity. To do this, Child Protection Units should be established and empowered in all provinces to make implementation and accountability a top priority.
Authorities should proactively look for cases of child labor instead of waiting for society to report cases. Children are the future of this nation but unfortunately the future of Pakistan is not looking bright in this regard. In such an environment when the country is suffering from political anarchy and economic crisis, no big breakthrough can be expected from the rulers. However, the journey can be started at some level but all these steps are related to the economic condition of the country. As long as the economy would not be healthy nothing will be alright.
