Fashion brands ignore "endemic" abuse of Syrian refugees in Turkey - watchdog

By Timothy Large

LONDON, Oct 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Big fashionbrands are failing to protect Syrian refugees from "endemic"abuse in Turkish clothing factories supplying Europeanretailers, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.

Child labour, pitiful pay and dangerous conditions are amongthe risks facing undocumented Syrian refugees working inTurkey's garment industry, according to the Business and HumanRights Resource Centre.

The London-based charity surveyed 38 major brands withTurkish factories in their supply chains on steps they aretaking to protect vulnerable refugee workers from exploitation.

"A handful of leading brands, like NEXT and New Look,demonstrate it is a moral imperative, and commercially viable,to treat refugees with respect," Phil Bloomer, the watchdog'sexecutive director, said in a statement.

"The great majority of brands are doing too little. Theyshould learn rapidly from these leaders to outlaw abuse ofrefugees in their supply chains, and insist their suppliersprovide decent work for all their workers."

Almost 3 million refugees - more than half aged under 18 -have fled to Turkey to escape war in Syria. Many work illegallyin Turkey's garment industry, which supplies $17 billion inclothing and shoes a year, mostly to Europe, especially Germany.

A Reuters investigation this year found evidence of Syrianrefugee children in Turkey working in clothes factories inillegal conditions. Turkey bans children under 15 from working.

A BBC Panorama investigation broadcast on Monday found thatSyrian refugee children had been working in factories makingclothes for British high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S)and online store ASOS.

An M&S spokesperson told Reuters before the BBC reportaired: "We had previously found no evidence of Syrian workersemployed in factories that supply us, so we were verydisappointed by these findings, which are extremely serious andare unacceptable to M&S."

An ASOS spokeswoman declined to comment.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre said manybrands justified inaction on labour exploitation by denying theexistence of refugees of any age in their supply chains.

In its survey, drawn up with trade unions and rightsadvocates, only nine brands reported that they had foundunregistered Syrian refugees on factory floors.

Those brands were ASOS, C&A, H&M, KiK, LC Waikiki, Primark,New Look, NEXT and Otto Group.

Until this year, Syrians were not entitled to work permits,so many refugees worked informally.

Turkey started to issue permits in January, but the Businessand Human Rights Resource Centre said "the vast majority ofSyrian refugees continue to work without legal protections,making them vulnerable to abuse".

It said ASOS, C&A, Esprit, GAP, Inditex, LC Waikiki,Mothercare, New Look, Otto Group, Primark, Tesco, Tchibo andWhite Stuff all now expect suppliers to support unregisteredrefugees to get work permits.

"This is a positive shift given many brands previously citeda zero tolerance policy towards unregistered refugees working infactories, leading to their dismissal - the worst outcome fortheir welfare," the charity said in a report.

It praised NEXT, New Look and Mothercare for having detailedplans for protecting refugees and for paying a minimum wage evenwhen Syrians are employed without work permits.

The monitoring group criticised standard methods used tomake sure supply chains are free from labour exploitation, inwhich brands announce in advance audits of so-called first-tiersuppliers.

Rights groups say a lot of abuse occurs at the murkier endsof supply chains when suppliers subcontract production fromthird-party factories that are much harder to keep track of.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre noted thatAdidas, C&A, Debenhams, LC Waikiki, Puma, Inditex, ASOS, H&M andNEXT audited sub-contractors below the first tier. But it saidmuch more needed to be done.

The survey showed a minority of brands were takingcollective action on exploitation in Turkey through the EthicalTrading Initiative, an alliance of trade unions, firms andcharities promoting workers' rights, the group said.

"Disappointingly, six brands did not respond to the (survey)questions - Gerry Weber, Lidl, Mexx, New Yorker, River Islandand Sainsbury's," it added in its report.

Nobody was immediately available for comment at New Yorker,Mexx or Lidl. A River Island spokeswoman declined to comment.

A Sainsbury's spokesperson told Thomson Reuters Foundation:"We expect our suppliers, both in the UK and abroad, to followour Code of Conduct for Ethical Trade, which incorporates theBase Code of the Ethical Trading Initiative."

A spokeswoman for Gerry Weber said in an email: "We haveraised awareness with our suppliers for the issue and arefurthermore on site with our own staff. Additionally we realiseaudits with independent third parties."

Arcadia, Burberry, s.Oliver, SuperGroup, VF Corp and Walmartonly provided short statements in response to the survey, theBusiness and Human Rights Resource Centre said. (Reporting by Timothy Large; additional reporting by ZabihullahNoori; editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson ReutersFoundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covershumanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking and climatechange. Visit www.trust.org)