Child Labour grows at Afghan Kilns as girls replace women

Aljazeera report of Sept 2022 with many photos, describing sharply increasing child labour in Afghanistan’s brick kilns since the Taliban took over and most international aid stopped flowing. Children are working so that their families will not die of starvation.

As you know the Taliban regime has broken its word and banned women from most work outside the home. To compensate for this more children are working, and especially girls are doing the heavy work at the kilns that their mothers used to do.

In case anyone should think that Afghanistan is an especially backward and benighted place, take note that in the World’s largest parliamentary democracy India (which sends rockets to Mars and exports IT technicians to the West by the thousand) probably a million child labourers work at the brick kilns every year and do not attend any school. This child labour continues within 10 or 20 kilometres of the residences of chief ministers in the full light of day.

https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/9/26/photos-poverty-pushes-afghan-children-to-work-at-brick-kilns

Animals suffer too in the Brick Kilns of South Asia

brickkilnnewssasia
Apr 8, 2018
1 min read

The bulk of the donkeys, mules and horses’ work consists of transporting wet and dry bricks by cart or pack within the kilns and to external locations for use in the construction industry.

These animals carry many tonnes of bricks every day. They suffer from serious health and welfare issues caused by the environment in which they work, as well as by poor husbandry and management. Extreme temperatures, lack of shade, difficult terrain and overloading can cause disease and injuries. Wounds and lameness are common.

https://www.thebrooke.org/our-work/we-work-owners/brick-kilns-hidden-industry