An in-depth study by the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) has revealed that debt bondage and child labour continue in brick factories.

‘Bound by Bricks: An Opportunity to End Debt Bondage and Child Labour in Cambodia’s Brick Factories’ was released on Monday. Its findings are based on visits to brick factories and interviews with workers in Kandal province and Phnom Penh.

The report provides stark evidence that debt bondage and child labour continue in brick factories.

Debt bondage and child labour plague Cambodia’s brick factories, as decades of inaction by the government and construction and real estate sectors have allowed these human rights abuses to continue unchecked, the research found.

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Some of the findings also include brick factory workers being at risk due to the industry’s downturn, debt bondage remaining endemic, child labour continuing, and inspections being inconsistent and ineffective.

Brick kilns were fuelled by garment waste from international clothing brands, and several workers reported that burning garment waste caused them headaches and respiratory problems, the study added.

At the same time, working conditions and access to healthcare are inadequate and bricks being predominantly bought by gated housing developments (boreys) have been stressed as serious challenges.

Am Sam Ath, LICADHO Operations Director, said, “Brick factory workers’ debts to factory owners are textbook examples of criminal debt bondage, and those debts must be immediately cancelled.

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"No child under 18-years-old should be formally or informally working in hazardous brick factories.”

The study went on to cite that children aged nine to 17 continue to work in the worst forms of child labour in Cambodian brick factories.

Despite causing health and environmental impacts, brick factory workers and their children reported respiratory problems, headaches, and other harm to health. Families reported that working in brick factories is difficult for children due to them handling and transporting heavy loads and working in extreme temperatures.

They also confirmed that children either never attended school, or dropped out of primary school. This was reportedly due to costs associated with schooling, or instability caused by moving between brick factories.

Also, workers’ adult children who have grown up in brick factories most often moved to live and work in another factory after marriage, where they took a new loan of their own, the study stated.

Pilorge Naly, LICADHO’s Outreach Director, said, “The Cambodian government allows debt bondage and child labour to continue in plain sight. The government’s charade of inspecting brick factories, only to deny the existence of any problems, is a shameful effort to obscure the truth.

“For decades, Cambodia’s cities and developments have been built upon the exploitation of brick factory workers. It is past time to end modern slavery and child labour in Cambodia’s brick factories.”

Orn Katta, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT), said MLVT has paid high attention to effectively enforcing employment laws in all factories, enterprises, labour companies, and public and private institutions subject to the rule of law.

Katta confirmed that regarding the LICADHO report, the ministry will work closely and take action to educate all factory owners not to allow children to work for their interests. If they fail to obey the rules, legal action and strict measures will be enforced, as well as penalties.

To solve the problem, MLVT urged all organisations, both the public and private, to report to the government if they see a company hiring children to work illegally.

The study reported that brick factory workers remain trapped living and working under dangerous and exploitative conditions with little possibility of escaping modern slavery.

The current slowdown in the construction sector provides an opportunity to transform Cambodia’s brick industry. The industry must be defined by fair wages and working conditions, not loans and coercion to eradicate modern slavery and child labour.

On World Children’s Day 2023, LICADHO is renewing its call for all actors to immediately end these practices.

The organisation urged that workers must be freed from bonded labour; child labour laws must be properly enforced and strengthened; and international garment brands must stop their waste from being burnt in brick kilns, harming the health of workers and their children.