According to an undercover investigation by BBC News, Syrian refugee children are being exploited by Turkey’s garment industry.
Of the estimated three million Syrian refugees in Turkey, only a small percentage have work permits. Consequently, many are forced to obtain work illegally in order to survive. And their off-the-books status opens them up to an array of abuses.
The investigation found myriad instances of Syrian children as young as seven working twelve hour days sewing, steaming, and packaging clothing for big name retailers. It also uncovered the elaborate web of sub-contracting that makes such forms of exploitation so difficult to prevent.
As the article explains, “[some] factories may never be visited by auditors because… they’re part of the chain of sub-contractors who make up much of the garment industry in Turkey. They take orders from so-called first-tier factories – official suppliers to the brands – but often without the knowledge of the brands themselves. This is where you’ll find the worst abuses of Syrian refugees and children.”
So while many big name retailers publicly oppose child labor and other exploitive practices, they often don’t know precisely where their clothes are being made. And, as the author put it, “until the brands know exactly who is making their clothes, then this type of exploitation is almost certain to continue.”
You can read more about the exploitation of Syrian refugee children in Turkey at BBC News.
