list of companies that use forced labor

There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 grow carrots in Paraguay. According to the survey, almost 13 percent of Paraguayan children engaged in child labor in agriculture do not attend school. The children are also forced to lead donkeys deep underground and lead them back out hauling the mined coal. Regional- and district-level officials assign each farmer a quota for the production of silk cocoons, and threaten farmers with fines, the loss of their leased farmland, or physical violence if they fail to meet the quota. As stated in our Business Conduct Guidelines, we reject all forms of oppression, forced labor and participation in human rights violations. In some cases, children working in gold mining have been trapped in collapsed mines, have suffocated, or have been exposed to mercury. The ILO has found that generally children who work in agriculture may be at risk of exposure to hazards including, working long hours, carrying heavy loads, using dangerous tools, and exposure to the elements, physical injuries, and chemicals, such as pesticides. Children are involved in hazardous forms of work, including using pick axes, engaging in work underground, and carrying heavy loads. Many of these children work long hours carrying heavy loads, are exposed to extreme temperatures, and lack access to potable water and toilet facilities. In 2016, the Government of Paraguay published representative results from the Survey of Activities of Rural Area Children and Adolescents 2015. Children rarely wear protective shoes or boots, and this increases their risk for additional injuries and illnesses such as cuts, wounds, bruises, thorn injuries, skin disorders, and infections. Click Share This Page button to display social media links. In 2016, the Government of Paraguay published representative results from the Survey of Activities of Rural Area Children and Adolescents 2015. We have full confidence in our due diligence and supply chain mapping process, which maps down to the cotton bale level, to state that none of our products are made with Chinese cotton or use forced labor.". The Human Trafficking Legal Center'sJune 2020 guide, Importing Freedom: Using the U.S. Based on an analysis of the survey, it is estimated that 31,516 child laborers raise bovines. The survey estimates that 301,827 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous work in rural areas of Paraguay and indicates that children working in agriculture experience accidents and illnesses, including from using dangerous tools and handling chemicals. Volkswagen, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and NIO were the other car companies referenced in the report. In addition to this, poor workers in rural areas may also experience coercion without detention. Some children are forcibly recruited, or recruited through deceptive means, and transported to coffee plantations in Cte d'Ivoire from nearby countries including Benin, Mali, Togo, and Burkina Faso. "We have an active ongoing program of human rights protection and anti-slavery measures, both for our own operations and our supply chains. There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 in Vietnam manufacture footwear. Approximately 196,572 child laborers raising poultry are below the minimum age for employment in Paraguay. Real justice is fighting for those who cant fight for themselves, and the companies within these industries who see this injustice must fight. Uniqlo is a fast-fashion brand that used child labor in the past. According to local media and NGO reports, thousands of individuals have been subjected to forced labor in the production of palm oil. According to an NGO report containing the most recently available data on the eastern region of the country, it is estimated that as many as 50 percent of all boys aged 10 and above migrate or are trafficked to work for a year; most work on cotton farms in Tapoa or Kompienga. In order to ensure the proper implementation of its CSR policies, BYD regularly conducts labor audits of suppliers in accordance with the BYD Company Audit Management Rules. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. In the North of Brazil, children work with family members to cultivate cocoa. In 2020, China imported $2.17 billion of cobalt from the DRC. .paragraph--type--html-table .ts-cell-content {max-width: 100%;} No matter where a person is in the world, everyone needs to eat, and there needs to be someone willing to harvest the food. They are punished with physical abuse. Landlords charge these tenant workers for costs such as rent, fertilizer, and seeds; these costs often exceed the profit earned from the tobacco harvest and result in debt for the worker and his or her family. It also is likely that many others are subjected to forced labor at yarn factories within Xinjiang, particularly for cotton yarns. Here are some of the 83 brands listed in the report as being connected to those factories using forced labor. The production of child pornography is concentrated in big cities, particularly in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Most children are paid little if at all, after deductions for meals, transportation, and payments to the school. The children are forced to work without protective equipment. .cd-main-content p, blockquote {margin-bottom:1em;} Hard work and long hours arent rewarded with reciprocal pay. Approximately 36.7 percent, or 12,526, of these child laborers are under 15 years old, which is the minimum age for employment in Vietnam. Some children are forced to sow, weed, and harvest the cotton in hazardous conditions; some work under threats of abuse or withholding of payment. ", "BYD does not use forced labor in its supply chain. There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 grow manioc/cassava in Paraguay. There are reports that children as young as age 10 are forced to work in the production of bamboo in Burma. Children work long hours, with some reporting working up to 15 hours per day, 6 days per week, and earn exceptionally low wages. Silk cocoons can be processed and unwound to produce silk thread. The List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor comprises 159 goods from 78 countries and areas, as of September 28, 2022. Siemens has no manufacturing facilities in the Xinjiang province and does not produce there. One source estimates that there are as many as 10,000 children working in the sector. Some workers report finding themselves in a debt spiral because they owe money to the plantation owners for food, their journey to the plantation, and even the equipment they must use during the harvest. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Paraguays commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs. The 2020 Australian Strategic Policy Institute report identified Zara among the companies that could have directly or indirectly benefited from forced labor in China. There are reports that children ages 5 to 17 in Vietnam cultivate coffee. Families accept a loan in the form of advanced payment for a year of their child's work, and the child is prohibited from leaving the workplace until the debt is paid in full. Sichuan (Szechuan) Xinsheng (New Life) Labor Factory, a/k/a Xinsheng (New Life) Labor Factory. Approximately 9,737 of these children in hazardous child labor are engaged in the production of baked goods. There are reports that children ages 5 to 17 work in poultry raising in Ecuador. According to reports from the media and government raids, 5,000 children from Nigeria and Benin are working in forced gravel production in Nigeria. The Government of Brazils 2015 National Household Survey considers all work performed by children below age 14 to be child labor. Bricks. Uniqlo did not respond to a request for comment for this story. OCFT combats child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking by: An official website of the United States government. Child labor in the sugarcane sector occurs on both commercial plantations and smallholder farms. In 2016, the Government of Paraguay published representative results from the Survey of Activities of Rural Area Children and Adolescents 2015. U.S. Sources indicate that forced labor in coffee is widespread in this state. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) establishes a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, or produced by certain entities, is prohibited by Section 307 of the There are reports that children as young as age 8 mine gold in Nigeria. Employers record attendance informally and rarely issue written accounts of debt owed, enabling quarry owners to deduct money from the workers wages and inflate debts. Some children work on year-long contracts and are not allowed to leave until the end of the year. @media only screen and (min-width: 0px){.agency-nav-container.nav-is-open {overflow-y: unset!important;}} ", "To state it very clearly: respecting human rights is of immense importance to our company and an integral part of our responsibility as a global business. According to the most recently available government data, close to 1,900 children, or about 24 percent of children working in the dried fish industry, are working under conditions of force. There are reports of children ages 10-18 and some as young as 6 who work under conditions of forced labor producing garments in Vietnam. .table thead th {background-color:#f1f1f1;color:#222;} ILAB has reason to believe that multiple solar products produced in China are made with an input using forced labor, specifically from polysilicon produced in China. U.S. imports of solar cells and modules totaled $8.2 billion last year, according to BloombergNEF, a research group. Children in granite quarries are at high risk of physical injury, and are exposed to large quantities of dust and smoke, which can cause respiratory diseases. The survey considers a working child to be engaged in child labor if the child is below the minimum age for employment of 14 or the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. Of the estimated 6,049 child laborers who produce textiles, about 448 are 5-11 years old, 2,147 are 12-14 years old, and 3,454 are 15-17 years old. Some end up in conditions of bonded labor, in debt for fees that were charged for transport to Argentina, and are prohibited from leaving their workplaces for years until the debt is paid through wage deductions. Based on an analysis of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, an estimated 23,856 child laborers are involved in the weaving of textiles. Other victims are recruited through deception regarding the location of work and the anticipated wages. CBP defines forced labor as all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer work or service voluntarily. The ILO has found that generally, children who care for farm animals may be at risk of exposure to potential health consequences, including injuries from kicks and infections from animal bites and exposure to harmful bacteria. More broadly, according to varied estimates, at least 100,000 to hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities are being subjected to forced labor in China following detention in re-education camps. Those who are most vulnerable are also those most susceptible to being targeted for trafficking. Campbell said the following when reached for comment: "We do not source any ingredients from the Xinjiang region. There are reports of children working under conditions of forced labor in rice mills in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. Some of the children forced to work in the fishing industry are working in bonded labor after being sold or sent by their parents under a one- to three-year contract, for which the parents are promised payment on agreed-upon intervals. According to available reports, indigenous farmworkers from impoverished regions of central and southern Mexico are particularly vulnerable to forced labor in the agricultural sector due to low education levels, linguistic barriers, and discrimination. More broadly, according to varied estimates, at least 100,000 to hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities are being subjected to forced labor in China following detention in re-education camps. There is evidence that children ages 5 to 13 cultivate bananas in Brazil. Both companies provided a comment and were considered separate companies for counting purposes.). Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. When reached for comment, Victoria's Secret pointed to the statement L Brands its former parent company made in 2020 in response to its inclusion in the report. The survey estimates that 301,827 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous work in rural areas of Paraguay and indicates that children working in agriculture experience accidents and illnesses, including from using dangerous tools and handling chemicals. There are reports that children as young as 9 produce footwear in Turkey. Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security. A UN report identified approximately 150 children working, many alongside their mothers, in Klong Yai district near the Cambodia border. The survey estimates that 301,827 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous work in rural areas of Paraguay and indicates that children working in agriculture experience accidents and illnesses, including from using dangerous tools and handling chemicals. In Rajasthan, which produces 90 percent of Indias sandstone, boys and girls as young as age 6 or 7 work chiseling sandstone cobblestones, and boys ages 13 to 17 quarry sandstone. Reports and field research indicate that children are seen as extremely valuable to the harvest due to their physical stature and natural agility, qualities that allow them to climb the aa berry trees tall and thin trunks more easily without the trees breaking. The List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor comprises 159 goods from 78 countries and areas, as of September 28, 2022. These children are forced to sew garments under threat of physical or other punishments and without pay. According to a local NGO and media reports, hundreds of individuals have been subjected to forced labor in brick factories. The 2020 Australian Strategic Policy Institute report identified Nintendo among the companies that could have directly or indirectly benefited from forced labor in China. It is your obligation to be aware of your supply chain activities. According to the Government of El Salvadors Multi-Purpose Household Survey of 2015, a working child is considered to be engaged in hazardous child labor if the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. The survey considers a working child to be engaged in child labor if the child is below the minimum age for employment of 14 or the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Paraguays commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs. BYD maintains a strict Corporate Social Responsibility Policy that it enforces throughout its supply chain. Imagine pulling up to your job, thinking it will be another normal day at work. Laborers can work 10 to 12 hours per day, seven days a week, with little to no break. What makes this industry so viable is the growth it feeds to the economy. The survey estimates that 123,259 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous child labor in El Salvador, including using dangerous tools, carrying heavy loads, working with chemicals, working long or night shifts, and being exposed to dust, smoke, or extreme heat or humidity. Many children live at the worksite, and their freedom of movement is sometimes restricted through confiscation of identity documents and threats of arrest. In compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2397, Russia announced its intention in 2017 to cease issuing or renewing work visas for North Korean workers. The 2020 Congressional-Executive Commission on China report named Calvin Klein among the companies suspected of having ties to forced labor in Xinjiang. [CDATA[/* >