Entering a brick kiln factory in Pakistan, is a bit like traveling back in time. Six days a week, from dawn to dusk, men, women, children and elderlies shape, arrange, cook and carry millions of bricks, in working conditions close to servitude.

    Estimates state that 200 000 families (between 750 000 and 900 000 people) work in the 11 000 brick kiln factories in Pakistan, that includes 250 000 children, who mainly don’t go to school. In the outskirts of Islamabad, adults earn 300 rupees (3 USD) while children earn 250 (2,5 USD) per day.

    Because the workers don’t earn enough to survive, they get forced to contract loans offered by the brick owner, that get reimbursed from their meager salaries, making the debts practically impossible to repay in a lifetime. When the parents die, the debt is passed on to the children who can’t leave the factory before reimbursing their parents loan. From generation to generation, families get bonded to their employer by this endless system of debts. In 1992, the Bonded Labour System Act abolished officially this form of labour in Pakistan but the country didn’t succeed to eradicate it.

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    Work begins at sunrise in a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad. Adult earn 300 rupees (3 USD) a day while children earn 250 (2,5 USD) a day.

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    Bricks are left to dry at the end of the day, in a brick factory next to Islamabad.

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    Pakistani girls collect water from a well next to their home, in a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad. Most laborers live inside the brick factory where the whole family is employed, including children and elderlies.

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    Pakistani women shape brick, early morning, on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Once they get dried, the bricks are loaded on donkeys to be cooked in the oven. Each factory produces sevral thousands of bricks every day.

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    Elderies collecting coal, in a brick factory, next to Islamabad.

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    Men work early morning on the oven of a brick factory, near Islamabad.

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    Pakistani girls collect coal for their family, to be used for cooking, in a brick factory near Islamabad.

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    Women work from morning until night in the brick, they often bring their younger children along, who play around their parents and learn the work at the same time.

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    Brick worker Frozzedin Emaddin, 78, center, poses with his wife, one of his son and his grand children in his home, located in a brick factory, near Islamabad. Frozzedin began to work in the brick at the age of 7 years old with his parents. After 70 years, he keeps on working as his still owes 200 000 rupees to the brick owner. His 9 children and 30 grandchildren, work with him to reimburse the debt.

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    A worker gets a haircut, during a break, in a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad.

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    A Pakistani laborer works early morning, in the oven of a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Pesmina Zaillunah, 9, works with her sisters in a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad.

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    A Pakistani girl arranges bricks, on the outskirts of Islamabad. Most children working in the brick with their parents don't attend school.

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    A Pakistani woman walks back home with her child, after work, in a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad.

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    A Pakistani woman washes laundery in a puddle of water, in a brick factory, in Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    An elderly man arranges bricks on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    A boy reacts in front of the camera, as he takes a break from work, in a brick factory, on the outskirts of Islamabad.

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