Pakistani law recognises that no young person under the age of 18 years can enter into a valid and binding contract. In hazardous industries, such as brick kilns, none of the children working in them have any formal contract, so limiting any rights they may have. Any contract that does exist is with the child’s father and will be linked to everlasting debts and constitutes a form of bondage. This paper reviews the adverse medical effects on children of such employment.
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