Antislavery Usable Past

The Khans

2012 (Narrative date)

The Global Slavery Index 2018 estimates than there are 749,000 people living in conditions of modern slavery in Afghanistan. Within the country men, women and children are exploited in bonded labour, where an initial debt assumed by a worker as part of the terms of employment is exploited, ultimately entrapping other family members and sometimes for multiple generations. Some entire Afghan families are trapped in debt bondage in the brick-making industry in the Easter part of the country.

Zabit Khan and his family were living as refugees in Pakistan when he became ill and borrowed several thousand dollars from a kiln owner to cover his medical costs. He began working at the kiln but was not earning enough to pay off the debt. As his family grew, Zabit had to borrow more for food, medicine and other basic needs for his children. Seven years later an Afghan kiln owner bought the Khans’ debt and they began working for him back in Afghanistan. Khan, his wife and his 9 young children would spend 12 hours a day squatting in the dirt making line after line of clay bricks.

https://pressroom.rferl.org/a/rferl-trafficking-coverage-2013/25027709.html

Zabit Khan

I’m in debt. I owe almost $3000 to the owner of the brick factory. I have small children but I have been forced to accept work here as a brick maker. My family needs to stay at this kiln in order to survive.

Hamida (Daughter)

I’m working here because we’re in debt and my father is sick. My sisters, brothers and I are forced to work here out of necessity. We wake up every day at 3am and work until 5pm.

Asad (Son)

My father is ill and we have no money or our own home.

I don’t go to school. I have to work because there’s no other option.

Khan’s wife

Over there [in Pakistan] we lived at a brick factory, and again we are going through the same thing. We don’t have our own home. No roof over our heads. We do a lot of work, but we get nothing back from it. During holidays, other people celebrate, but all my poor kids can do is watch. We hope that the government will come to our aid.

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Country

Theme

Debt bondage

Type

Narrative

Tags

VOICES: Narratives by Survivors of Modern Slavery

This is the world's largest archive of modern slavery survivor narratives. Across more than a million words spoken or written by survivors of modern slavery, we can see why slavery persists in particular hotspots, analyse patterns in trafficking routes, identify vulnerabilities, understand more about the challenges survivors face in liberation, and discover new antislavery solutions. These narratives offer the chance to systematically design new antislavery strategies based on the experiences, ideas and solutions of enslaved people themselves.

The database is searchable by country, name, theme, and narrative date. Narratives can be viewed in list or map form. A short introduction provides context to each narrative. Narrative provenance appears after the main narrative text.

For ideas on how to use this database, please see our accompanying guide.

Project Lead: Zoe Trodd. Team Members: Andrea Nicholson, Lauren Eglen, Rosemary Pearce, Olivia Wright.

Project Funders: AHRC Antislavery Usable Past grant (2014-19), ESRC/AHRC PaCCS Modern Slavery: Meaning and Measurement grant (2016-19), and AHRC-GCRF Antislavery Knowledge Network grant (2017-2021).

For any queries about the collection please contact: [email protected]. If you wish to cite a particular narrative, please acknowledge the survivor’s name, the provenance of the narrative and cite: Voices Database, the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham.

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