{"id":6399,"date":"2018-05-07T08:53:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T08:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=6399"},"modified":"2021-12-15T08:54:46","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T08:54:46","slug":"workers-security-of-life-in-balochistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/workers-security-of-life-in-balochistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Workers\u2019 security of life in Balochistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press release<\/u><\/p>\n

Workers\u2019 security of life in Balochistan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lahore<\/strong>, 7 May 2018<\/strong>. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grave concern at the recent deaths of 29 workers in Balochistan. On 4 May, six migrant workers involved in installing a mobile phone tower in Kharan were killed by assailants who attacked their camp as they slept. During 5\u20136 May, 23 colliers were killed in two separate mining accidents\u2014a methane explosion in a mine in Marwar and a mudslide in another mine in Sooranj, which left several miners fatally trapped.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued today, HRCP has said: \u2018It is unacceptable that workers are not provided adequate security in regions known to be politically sensitive and thus vulnerable to such attacks. The responsibility for protecting workers in such a situation lies squarely with their employers, who must take all possible steps to ensure that their operations in any given area do not put workers at unnecessary risk. Where this risk exists, employers are bound to provide their workers with regular and adequate security.<\/p>\n

\u2018Moreover, mining accidents such as methane explosions and cave-ins may be preventable if the correct occupational health and safety procedures and mechanisms are implemented early on. In what is a physically grueling occupation in even the best of conditions, miners\u2019 lives cannot be treated as dispensable. This implies that creating and sustaining conditions of decent work\u2014for which both the state and employers are legally responsible\u2014is as important as creating work in the first instance.\u2019<\/p>\n

HRCP has also urged the state and the employers concerned to ensure that the workers\u2019 beneficiaries are, in both cases, compensated fairly.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mehdi Hasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chairperson<\/p>\n

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