カテゴリー: Employment
Enslaved by debt, victims often feel compelled to sell an organ to repay loans – but can find themselves even worse off after the procedureShafeeq Masih* faced an impossible choice: remain trapped for ever by the debt he owed to the owner of the brick …
From the construction worker who won a place at medical school to an art exhibition in a country with no galleries, we asked journalists for their most optimistic tales of the yearFounder of the Migration Story, India Continue reading…
Fast-fashion recycling: how ‘the castoff capital of the world’ is making Indian factory workers sick
Reports of lung disease, skin conditions and even cancer are rising in Panipat, which recycles 1 million tonnes of textile waste a yearThe air inside Panipat’s recycling factories is heavy with lint that glints in the light before settling over every s…
Afghanistan’s ‘morality police’ arrested Samira at work in Kabul – and then made the 19-year-old marry her employerIt was a normal summer morning in July last year when 19-year-old Samira* made her way to the carpet-weaving shop where she worked in Kab…
Restoring age-old land rights has enabled 300 villagers to build a profitable business and halt the exodus to the cityIt’s late morning and the sound of axes clacking against wood echoes through Pachgaon’s bamboo forest in the central Indian state of M…
Millions of migrants will build stadiums, transport networks and hotels. But testimonies from Bangladeshis who have worked there suggest abuse is deeply entrenched in the Gulf kingdomWhen Shahadat set out for Saudi Arabia from his village in Bangladesh…
In India being a female fan of Shah Rukh Khan is not just about a love of film – it’s a form of resistance against restrictive gender norms Shah Rukh Khan may be an Indian cinematic legend and star of record-breaking Bollywood blockbusters but he is no…
Forced to travel far to find gruelling work making bricks, women and children fall sick but cannot access healthcareThe phrase “khat rahein hain” (“being worn down”) is how Suma Devi describes her 16 years of labouring at the brick kilns near the city …
The high street retailer may be shutting shops in the UK but its legacy lives on for a plastics company which continues to help improve the lives of India’s waste pickersSitting in a sultry corner of southern India, beside the rain trees and beaches o…
Her family have been threatened and her team faces increasing risks in Afghanistan, but Zahra Joya knows she must keep reporting from exileOn the nights that she manages to fall asleep, Zahra Joya always returns to Afghanistan in her dreams. On good ni…
Researchers find that in low and middle-income countries owning spectacles can help people over 35 increase their incomeOwning a pair of reading glasses might help people increase their earnings by a third, according to new research.The study, conducte…
Workers describe hands and arms being targeted in ‘merciless’ beatings as protests over low wages turn increasingly violent in DhakaWhen Masuma Akhtar arrived at the garment factory where she works on the outskirts of Dhaka on 31 October, she was expec…
Thousands of families are trapped by debts on plantations in south-west Karnataka, despite the practice supposedly being abolished in the 70sIt was a chance meeting in the market that led to freedom. On his monthly trip to buy groceries, Ramesh bumped …