HWA demands implementation of Sindh Bonded Labor System Abolition Act.

HYDERABAD -- After floods in August 2022 in Sindh, due to non-implementation of the Sindh Bonded Labor System Abolition Act (SBLSAA) of 2015 it has increased in Sindh together with poverty, livelihood insecurity and malnutrition said Akram Ali Khaskheli, President Hari Welfare Association while addressing a press conference at Hyderabad Press Club. The press conference was attended by peasants Hussain Bux Chhuto, Abdul Qadir and others from different districts of Sindh. Khaskheli said that in 2023 from January to February 190 bonded laborers were released through court orders, who include 56 children and 63 women. He lamented in 2022 under the SBLSAA only 14 the District Vigilance Committees (DVCs) were constituted but they are ineffective and dysfunctional. There is no monitoring of the implementation of the SBLSAA. However, during and after floods there is a dire need of the DVCs because the chances of bonded labor are high in these conditions. He added that most of the officials are unaware of the Prevention of Persons in Trafficking Act (PoPA) of 2018 and the SBLSAA. HWA claimed that Sindh and the federal governments have turned a deaf ear to peasants and rural workers, who lost their crops, wages, cattle and...