Children in Gap-Linked Sweatshop Are Rescued

NEW DELHI — Police rescued 14 children yesterday from a New Delhi sweatshop at the center of a scandal involving Gap, the American clothing giant.Despite reports over the weekend that a Gap supplier had illegally subcontracted work to the sweatshop in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi, Indian police did not raid the address until the Daily Telegraph produced photographs of the children still at work.Earlier in the day, the Telegraph visited the complex posing as a buyer for a fictional fashion boutique in London.After negotiations with managers to view the quality of the workmanship and photograph samples, the Telegraph was shown a series of 12 dingy rooms where both adults and children squatted on the floor performing delicate embroidery and stitching.Photographs of the children, many of whom appeared very young, were shown to Global March Against Child Labour, the child rights charity, which immediately called police, who raided the building a few hours later.The boys, some as young as 8, looked utterly terrified as a police inspector explained that they were working illegally and would shortly be returned to their families.There were chaotic scenes as the children, many dressed in little more than their underwear, were given a few minutes to gather their few belongings before being ushered from the premises.“Once we saw the photographs, we knew that we had to act fast,” a New Delhi lawyer and activist with Global March Against Child Labour, Bhuwan Ribhu, said. “The children are aged 8 to 15 and at least three of them have told me already that they were working for no pay at all.”After their rescue, the children, who come from impoverished families in rural West Bengal, eastern India, were taken to a local police station before being handed over to Global March, which runs a rehabilitation center on the outskirts of New Delhi. “First, the children will be given something to eat, and then we’ll try and make them comfortable for the night,” Mr. Ribhu said. “Then the process of getting them financial compensation and returning them to their villages and families will begin.” Under India’s Bonded Labor Act, each of the underage workers is entitled to 20,000 rupees (about $500) cash in compensation from the government in order to prevent them returning to work.The United Nations estimates that 55 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are currently employed in the domestic and business sectors in India, producing up to 20% of India’s annual GDP.“Many of the children are conned from their parents by unscrupulous people-trafficking operations,” Mr. Ribhu said. “The agents make promises that the children will earn thousands of rupees and make their fortune in the big cities.“But in reality, most work for nothing except their food for at least the first 12 months and then earn between 1,200 and 1,500 rupees [$30-40] a month, which is half the minimum wage of 3,200 rupees [about $80].”Conditions in the Shahpur Jat sweatshop raided yesterday are typical of those found all over India where children sit crouched on their haunches 12 hours a day stitching sequins and braiding on to richly embroidered garments, mostly for the domestic market. Gap ordered an investigation, describing the allegations as “deeply upsetting.”“Under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments,” a spokesman for Gap, which employs 90 inspectors to ensure suppliers follow company guidelines, said.However, such is the prevalence of child labor in India’s textile industry that activists say major chains need to work harder to stamp out the problem.With poverty still widespread in India — almost half of all children are malnourished — many small and family businesses justify hiring children on the basis that they provide them with a life and livelihood.Children are particularly prized for their nimble fingers, which are able to stitch the tiniest beads on to the decorative kurtas and saris that are worn on special occasions.After the raid, the man responsible for bringing the children to Delhi, Sheikh Mubidul, was to be found not in hiding, but giving interviews to local television stations, denouncing the raid.“The children came from Madnipur District, West Bengal, and their parents sent them with me so they could learn how to work and get enough to eat,” he said. “In their villages they have nothing, so we help them in this way.” Asked if he thought is was wrong to condemn children to a life of labor at such a young age, he replied: “They have no food to eat, so they must work. What else can they do?”

Children in Gap-Linked Sweatshop Are Rescued

Children in Gap-Linked Sweatshop Are Rescued

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