Swedish H & M and the British Next were the only brands that have found refugee children admitted Syrian working in the factories of its suppliers in Turkey. The complaint was made by the nonprofit organization Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) and published by the British newspaper The Independent. The organization, which is dedicated to monitoring the area of corporate social responsibility, questioned last month 28 of the biggest brands on their suppliers in Turkey and what their strategies to combat the exploitation of children and adults Syrians. Only H & M and Next reported having found children in their factories and guaranteed to be addressing the problem by putting children in school and supporting their families. However, they did not reveal the ages of the children.
The attitude of these two chains was praised by BHRRC, however, fears that this problem is much wider, since some brands did not respond to these questions. Primark and C & A said they have identified Syrians adults among workers. Adidas, Burberry, Nike and Puma have pledged not illegal Syrians in their supply chain, such as the Arcadia Group (owner of Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton Menswear).
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| Two of Europe's largest fashion chains have found children admitted Syrian working in factories of its suppliers in Turkey |
Other brands such as M & S, Asos, Debenhams and Superdry, simply did not answer the question of Syrian workers. While ten companies (including GAP, New Look and River Island) not yet sent any response.
"Only a few brands seem committed to the size and complexity of these problems with its Turkish suppliers; still less admit to having taken steps to protect these vulnerable workers," says the association, quoted by The Independent.
Turkey is, along with China, Cambodia and Bangladesh, one of the largest producers of clothing sold in European stores. It is also the country that has welcomed Syrian refugees since the war began in 2011: 2.5 million. But the Clothing and Confection Exporters Association have denied that the factories of its members have resorted to working Syrian refugee children . also being As only now, following an agreement with the European Union, Turkey will grant work permits to Syrian people, many of them found themselves working illegally. Vulnerable to exploitation receive much less than the Turkish workers and many children are used to ensure hand labor still cheaper. This abuse of news in the use of children in clothing factories comes at the same time when Europol warned of the disappearance of 10,000 refugee children in two years.