The children of the kiln: Boys and girls work their fingers to the bone toiling for pennies to make bricks in Nepal

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Bleak photographs have revealed Nepal's children of the kiln - the boys and girls tasked with working their fingers to the bone to produce the country's bricks. 

As Nepalese cities continue to grow and the nation struggles to recover from two earthquakes in 2015, the demand for bricks is higher than ever and kiln owners are capitalising on cheap labour to line their pockets.

Children as young as eight are being subjected to back-breaking, 14-hour days and the children are not even paid for their toil, with their parents picking up their measly pay cheques. 

Four youngsters, including very young-looking girls, pose on top of a huge pile of bricks in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

A dust covered young boy spreads his arms out as he leans against a mound of bricks as he squats barefoot in his workplace

As two children head off to school with their backpacks (rught) two others push wheelbarrows during their brick kiln shifts

A young kiln worker carries a tub of water home (left) and a young girl and her sister lean out of a makeshift doorway on shift

A young boy crawls over a sea of bricks in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal where he works backbreaking shifts for a pittance

A young worker in sandals piles bricks on top of his head (left) while another boy poses with a shirt tied over his head

A group of child labourers dressed either in sandals, Crocs or without any footwear at all, lean up against a makeshift wall

Photographer Jan Moeller Hansen documented the conditions of the brick kilns in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal between 2013 and 2016 while he lived and worked in the area.

Jan estimates between 150,000 and 175,000 people are employed in brick kilns across Nepal, while 200 reside in Kathmandu Valley.

The photographer said: 'The workers are poor and often need to borrow money with really high interest rates.

'This ties them into a system of loans and debt with the brick kiln owners and forces them to work in the kilns for years. No monthly salaries are paid.

'Often the workers are enumerated at the end of the season, which means they have to stay on until the end of the season.

'A labourer earns a few dollars for a 12 to 14 hour working day. Sometimes the entire family is paid just one sum after the season.

'The children do not know what they earn since the father will get the payment for the work of the entire family.'

Workers spend the dry season between November and April working in the brick kilns, after the monsoon season and religious festivals of Dashawn and Tihar they return to live at the kilns for another lengthy season. 

A worker walks across the bleak brick kiln in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal where working days last up to 14 hours

Workers are never too far from the job as they live in these shabby, makeshift huts where families live during the work season

A young worker at the brick kiln, posing for a photograph with cuts and dirt all over his face after a long, tough shift

Three kiln workers sift through a seemingly endless pile of brick and balance them on their heads during another lengthy shift

A boy carrying a stick dressed in a dirty shirt, green shorts and orange Crocs looks unhappy in front of a backdrop of bricks

A herd of donkeys are kept in grim conditions on a dusty ground and piles of bricks stopping them from escaping 

Four children covered in dust and dirt gather for a photograph in front of the bricks that they are responsible for in Nepal

According to Jan, the kiln workers are typically from the ethnic groups living in the surrounding hilly districts and plains of Nepal - workers range from 8 to 50-years-old.

Moeller said: 'Some of the children, who have been assigned work in the brick kilns through middlemen, have also learnt to lie about their age. 

'They will tell you that they are above 16 years of age, but it's often a lie.

'I find it disturbing to see young women and children living and working under such conditions. 

'Why can't the authorities ensure that the brick industry starts to treat the workers in a fair and respectable manner?'

A woman kneels down surrounded by rows of bricks as she takes the wet cement and presses them into shape at the factory

Women live at the brick kiln with their families and have bring up their children there, as one mother breastfeeds her child

Workers get an official to stamp off their working days for which they will receive a measly pay packet for their toil and graft 

Two young women pose for a photograph with a contraption to carry bricks at the kiln in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal 

Between 150,000 and 175,000 people are employed in brick kilns across Nepal, while 200 reside in Kathmandu Valley

These workers, taking a well-earned rest from their crippling work, will pick up just a couple of dollars a day for their toil

'I also saw the mistreatment of donkeys - they also work hard and are not allowed to recover and are poorly fed,' Jan said.

While the photographer understands the necessity of Nepal's brick kilns, he hopes that his work will encourage more people to call for safer work conditions.

Although some kilns have been provided with more modern and less pollutive technologies, enforcement of regulations is sparse and the workers have little to no opportunity to voice their grievances.