Govt yet to enforce labour law: Dr. Adil

KABUL Federation of Trade Unions (AAFTU) president on Wednesday said joblessness was increasing with each passing day but the government was doing nothing for provide work opportunities for the people.

Dr. Mohammad Liaqat Adil told Pajhwok Afghan news in an exclusive interview the International Labour Day was marked across the world to show unity among labourers.

The world started marking the day after many labourer protested for their rights in 1886 in the Chicago City of the United States. But police attacked them on the fourth day of their protest, killing some and executing four others.

He congratulated all workers on Labour Day, underlining the need for unity in their ranks to clinch their rights. The labourers of Afghanistan faced myriad problems such as poverty, illiteracy and joblessness, he explained.

Dr. Adil continued unemployment also contributed insecurity as youth were increasingly swelling militant ranks, he observed.  By the same token, jobless youth tended to became mentally sick and sought refuge in drugs, he pointed out.

Frustrated Afghan workers faced execution in neighbouring Iran on a daily basis, while some other countries also created problems for them, he complained.

“If the government provides employment for the people inside the country, our youth would not lose their lives abroad,” the unionist remarked, claiming dozens of Afghans were smuggled daily to Europe and Australia.  

Many of them have been killed inside containers or drowned in rivers on their way to foreign countries. Public and private-sector employees were meted out ill-treatment by their bosses in a nation where the labour law was not implemented, he alleged.

Several workers had been killed, wounded and displaced from their homes due to insecurity in the country, Dr. Adil noted, saying no concrete steps had been taken by the government and its international partners over the past 11 years for labourers’ prosperity.

The jobless continued to be asked for bribes for jobs in government departments, he maintained. The process of sending workers to foreign countries was also marred by graft, as most officials tried to give such jobs to their relatives, deprive the eligible people of their rights, he said.

Currently, 40 percent of able bodied Afghans are jobless, but the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled says 3.5 million individuals are jobless in the country.

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