“Good news: Javed Masih and his family are deeply grateful and happy as they have finally been freed from debt bondage,”

Sajid Christopher of the Pakistani partner organisation HFO (Human Friends Organisation) informed the ISHR via the short message service WhatsApp.

“We reached an agreement with the brickyard owner on the terms of their release more quickly than expected, and with the help of the ISHR, the family is now completely free from debt bondage,” he continued.

In the March issue of this newsletter, we asked you, dear friends, for your support, and it came quickly. In this way, Javed Masih’s six grandchildren were saved from child labour and endless bondage. They will now be able to attend school and acquire vocational qualifications.

The HFO also ensured that the family’s departure from the kiln site proceeded swiftly. Sajid Christopher and his team implemented protective measures to prevent managers or owners from collecting compensation while keeping the family captive.

“Thank you to everyone who helped restore freedom, dignity, and safety to the entire family,” he wrote.

Debt slavery, and thus exploitative lending practices, has been illegal in Pakistan for more than three decades. The 1992 law abolishing it even criminalizes these practices, punishable by two to five years in prison and fines. However, the justice system turns a blind eye, as this injustice continues to exist on a massive scale. According to some studies, in many brick factories in Punjab province, only about one in ten workers is legally employed. The children of most of these workers are denied basic rights such as education, healthcare, and a healthy diet.

Approximately 60 percent of those employed there are Christians, who make up less than two percent of the total population. The combination of an exploitative system that continues to operate with impunity and a climate of discrimination is devastating for many members of this minority. Social mobility remains virtually impossible for them.

Javed Masih was performing this arduous task just a few weeks ago © HFO

Thanks to financial support from the ISHR, the HFO was also able to free Imran Patras and his family from Sheikhupura. Patras fell into debt bondage at a young age because his family could no longer provide for him. Since his wife, Tania, also had to perform grueling labor, there was a serious risk that the well-being of their two children, four-year-old Aryan and one-year-old Kayra, would be permanently compromised.

“Once the loan was repaid, they immediately moved from the employer’s accommodation into a rented apartment, and the father applied for a job at a local factory—the beginning of a new, hopeful chapter in their lives,” Christopher reported.

We want to be able to help more families, whose children are particularly vulnerable, escape debt bondage.