CHILDREN ARE BEING SOLD TO PAY OFF DEBTS IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan's largest human trafficking problem, according to the report, is that of bonded labour. Concentrated in Sindh and Punjab provinces, it is particularly common in brick kilns, carpet-making, agriculture, fishing, mining, leather tanning, and production of glass bangles. Estimates of victims of bonded labour vary widely, but together with those in forced marriages and women who are traded between tribal groups to settle disputes or as payment, are likely to exceed one million, it said. 

Apart from paying debts, parents also sell, or attempt to sell, children for other reasons. 

In the southern Punjab town of Vehari, Ghazala Bibi, once stood at a city square for over seven hours, seeking “buyers” for her three children, Mahnoor, aged nine, Abdullah, seven, and Masooma, four. “My husband is a drug addict and I can no longer manage to feed my children,” Ghazala, a domestic worker, said. 

She said that by selling them, she hoped they would gain a better life. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE