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Introduction to Debt Bondage

RORUM0018FN04 BONDED (SLAVE) CHILD LABOURER POUNDING CLAY INTO A BRICK FORM. THE BRICKS BEHIND HER REPRESENT A DAYS WORK. © Robin Romano / GlobalAware THOUSANDS OF BRICK KILNS LINE LINE THE RIVERBANKS IN BENGAL AND THE SURROUNDING STATES OF INDIA. MOST OF THE WORKERS HERE ARE BONDED (SLAVE) LABORERS. THE FAMILIES THAT WORK HERE ARE EXPLOITED 12-16 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK. THEIR WORLD CONSISTS ONLY OF THESE MUD HOLES, DRYING FIELDS AND KILNS. AT NIGHT THEY SLEEP IN THE OPEN OR IN MAKESHIFT SHANTYS WHERE SANITARY CONDITIONS ARE NONEXISTENT. THERE ARE NO SCHOOLS HERE, AND FOR MANY OF THE CHILDREN THERE AREN'T EVEN FAMILIES. OVER 1/4 OF THE CHILDREN WORKING HERE HAVE BEEN TRAFFICKED FROM OTHER AREAS WHERE THEIR PARENTS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO EITHER SELL THEM INTO DEBT BONDAGE (SLAVERY) OR, IF THEY ARE LUCKY ENOUGH NOT TO BE BONDED, ARE DEPENDENT ON THE MEAGER WAGES THAT THESE CHILDREN CAN PROVIDE. THE WORK IS EXTREMELY BRUTAL, HAZARDOUS, ABUSIVE AND SOMETIMES LETHAL. WORKING ALL DAY IN THE HOT SUN WHERE TEMPERATURES REGULARLY CLIMB ABOVE 100F (37C), THEY CARRY WELL OVER A TON OF CLAY A DAY AND CROUCH FOR HOURS AS THEY FABRICATE THOUSANDS OF BRICKS IN OLD FASHION MOLDS. THE PAY, IF THERE IS ANY, AND CONDITIONS FALL WELL BELOW MINIMUM LEVELS REQUIRED BY LAW AND ARE ILLEGAL FOR CHILDREN. NONETHELES THE KIDS COME, DRIVEN BY NECESSITY, OFTEN UNAWARE OF WHAT THEY ARE GETTING INTO AND SOMETIMES TRICKED OR VIRTUALLY KIDNAPPED BY UNSCRUPULOUS AGENTS AND MIDDLEMEN. FOR MANY, THEIR DEBT ACTUALLY INCREASES OVER TIME DUE TO DISHONEST ACCOUNTING. THE POOR PAY AND HARD WORK ARE JUST THE BEGINNING. BRICK KILN CHILDREN TEND TO BE CHRONICALLY TIRED FROM THE LONG HOURS AND IRREGULAR REST, INCREASING THE PROBABILITY OF ACCIDENTS, INJURIES AND DEFORMITY. DISEASE, MALNUTRITION AND PERMANENT SKELETAL INJURY ARE THE COMMON LOT. UNABLE TO RECEIVE THE EDUCATION TO WHICH THEY ARE ENTITLED BY LAW, THEY ARE POWERLESS TO ACT, AND TRAPPED IN A CONTINUAL CYCLE OF GRINDING POVERTY. Bonded Labour, sla

Debt bondage is a cyclical form of slavery meant to exploit workers and sometimes even their decedents. When a person owes a large amount of money, he or she will work for the person owed to pay off the debt. While laboring off the debt, the “employer” will add on additional costs such as housing, food, and medical care. In doing so, the amount owed grows continuously so that the worker can never leave. 

Oftentimes, debt bondage is inherited, meaning that the children of bonded individuals must also work to pay off their parents’ debt. Thus, the cycle continues, with generations trying to repay a debt they will never be able to free themselves from. 

Debt bondage occurs throughout the world but is most prevalent in South Asian countries with China and India being the worst offenders. This type of slavery is commonly used in agriculture, brick-making, and the creation of consumer products.

report by Anti-Slavery International found that brick molders are almost always from marginalized classes and castes. These groups are preyed upon for exploitation because there are usually few laws to protect them. While the people working in brick kilns are both men and women, none of the female workers receive wages. They are bound to slavery to repay their husbands’ debt.

To learn more about this form of slavery, please watch the documentary below by Anti-Slavery International. The film explores slavery and child labor in Indian brick kilns. 

Documentary: Invisible Chains

Sources:

https://www.antislavery.org/what-we-do/past-projects/india-debt-bondage/

https://borgenproject.org/the-six-types-of-modern-day-slavery/

A young girl works in a brick kiln in West Bengal, India. © Robin Romano / GlobalAware /
Free2WorkPlatform on Flickr.

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