Inferno

In the brick kilns of Bangladesh, a form of modern slavery persists, where poverty and desperation trap workers in brutal conditions. Over a million laborers, including children, endure grueling 12 to 15-hour days under extreme heat, six days a week. Many are trafficked into this life through brokers, coerced into debt bondage, or outright confined, enduring physical and psychological torture. They toil for meager wages, often shackled to their stations and denied even the most basic human rights and protections.

The kiln environment is a harsh landscape of relentless heat, intensified by climate change, where laborers suffer from dehydration, heat exhaustion, and exposure to hazardous dust and chemicals. With little to no access to clean drinking water, medical care, or legal support, they live and work in cramped quarters with inadequate sanitation. The few available labor laws offer little reprieve, as enforcement is sparse, and legal avenues for justice are nearly inaccessible.

Trapped in a cycle of debt passed down through generations, many workers are bound to these kilns indefinitely, their dreams crushed under the weight of unyielding labor. The line between worker and slave blurs as their lives are dictated by debt, coercion, and abuse, reflecting a system that exploits the most vulnerable for profit.

Addressing this crisis requires more than suspending non-compliant kilns; it demands a comprehensive overhaul of labor protections, strict enforcement of anti-slavery laws, access to justice, and measures to combat the climate-driven escalation of heat. Without urgent intervention, the exploitation in Bangladesh's brick kilns will continue, claiming lives and futures, one brick at a time.