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

First Conference of All India Brick Kiln Labourers Union - Delhi 6 December 2019

Nov 28, 2019
1 min read

The first Open Conference of the All India Brick Kiln Labourers Union met on Friday 6th December at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.

The conference was attended by 300 representatives of brick kiln workers from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Panjab, UP, Odissa and W. Bengal, with representatives of NGOs and political parties.

The Union has existed locally, especially in Rajasthan, for several years and has carried out successful agitation and strikes for improved pay and conditions.

The Union has produced a National Demand Charter for Brick Kiln Workers which it seeks to have implemented. Some of the demands are already covered by existing laws called Factory Acts. Unfortunately these laws are seldom implemented.

The demands incude : Wages, contract systems and payment arrangements, rights of female workers, child education at or near the kiln, health and safety, improved living accomodation etc etc.