A Glimpse Into Pakistan’s Brickyards
This week, our team from Global Freedom Mission visited a brickyard where entire families are trapped in modern-day slavery — working from sunrise to sundown, shaping thousands of bricks every single day, just to survive.
One family we met broke our hearts. A father and his five children — the youngest only 14 — now live and work in the brickyard after falling into what’s called bonded labor.
It started innocently. Years ago, they borrowed a small amount of money to help pay for their daughter’s wedding. Later, they borrowed again for their son’s wedding. Then tragedy struck — the mother fell ill, spent months in the hospital, and later passed away. The family had to borrow again just to pay for her funeral.
With no way to repay the growing debt, they were taken to the brickyards and have been there ever since — working long, back-breaking days to chip away at a debt that, in modern U.S. dollars, equals just $1,085.
The heartbreaking truth is that in many places like this, families are born, live, and die in slavery over debts smaller than most monthly bills.
Our team witnessed the reality firsthand. My wife was shown how the bricks are made — step by step, from dawn to dusk. No rest, no freedom, no future beyond the next pile of clay.
This is the unseen face of poverty and injustice around the world.
Global Freedom Mission visits brick kiln communities to feed families, pray with them, share the gospel and show love through practical care. Donations support food, medical needs, clothing, schooling, clean water and other humanitarian assistance. We do not raise money to buy freedom or pay kiln owners for releases. Learn more about our work with vulnerable communities and Stories From the Field.
You can be a part of our mission to help families by providing the essentials of life — food, water, and faith — to those who need it most.
#GlobalFreedomMission #EndSlavery #FaithInAction #HopeInHumanity #PSA #Pakistan
Let My people go: a call for lasting freedom
The family’s story calls us to compassion and to lawful protection that lasts beyond a visit.
“Let My people go.” Our Christian conviction calls us to stand against bondage and seek justice through peaceful, lawful action.
We call on responsible Pakistani authorities to enforce the law, investigate corruption, prosecute proven offenses and protect families who report abuse. We invite Punjab’s labor, human rights and policing authorities, prosecutors, Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights and independent legal advocates to engage with our enforcement and accountability proposal.
Read the reports behind the call
- Human Rights Watch: Contemporary Forms of Slavery in Pakistan, July 1995, historical findings.
- U.S. Department of State: 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, Pakistan, reproduced by ecoi.net.
- NCHR: Unveiling Exploitation and Abuse in the Brick Kilns of Punjab, 2025, official research summary.
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Let my people go. Families deserve freedom from bonded labor, protection and a future. Read GFM’s story and the reports. #EndBondedLabour #Pakistan #HumanRights
Modern-Day Slavery Is Real
* These reports concern external investigations and provide context, not independent verification of a GFM case. We share them to raise awareness and do our best to verify accuracy before posting. GFM’s donations support humanitarian care, not payments to kiln owners to release families.