In the News

H&M's factories are still death traps

SvD Näringsliv
10/02/2015

(English Translation)

Although the clothing chain H & M promised better conditions for its textile workers in Bangladesh, it is still's of Thousands who work in factories That are described as pure death traps. None of the factories in the countryside Such as H & M uses meets the Safety, of according to a new report.

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Why you could be wearing cotton picked by forced labor

CNN
10/02/2015
Cotton is ever-present in our lives. It is in the clothes we wear, the towels in our bathrooms, our bed linen, even bank notes we pay with are made with cotton.
 
What is little known however is that vast amounts of the world's cotton are produced in slavery-like conditions in Central Asia. And while many are concerned about the sweatshops of Bangladesh and India, few would have heard about the forced labor of their own citizens organized by the governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
 

World's Biggest Wealth Fund Awaits Verdict on Textile Makers

Bloomberg
10/01/2015
The ethics council that guides Norway’s $820 billion sovereign wealth fund is zeroing in on the textile industry for breaching its standards in a development that may lead to some companies being excluded from the fund’s portfolio.
 
In a study of about 400 textile manufacturers, about “two handfuls” have been singled out and contacted, Johan H. Andresen, the chairman of Norway’s Council on Ethics, said in an interview on Thursday at his office on the outskirts of Oslo.
 

H&M "Dramatically" Lagging Behind in Bangladesh Fire, Safety Repairs

Ecouterre
10/01/2015

Two years after the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of apparel manufacturing, H&M is “dramatically” lagging behind on correcting the fire and safety hazards in its factories in Bangladesh, according to a joint report released by the International Labor Rights Forum, Clean Clothes Campaign, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Workers Rights Consortium on Thursday.

Uzbekistan activists beaten and detained

The Week
09/29/2015

Uzbekistan, a country with a long history of suspected human rights violations, has been in the headlines again this week for all the wrong reasons. With two activists detained and beaten and the government curtailing citizens' freedoms, the international community is beginning to pay closer to attention to the former Soviet state.

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Forced Labor Persists in Uzbek Cotton Harvest

The Diplomat
09/25/2015
The cotton harvest is underway in Central Asia again, and in due course citizens in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are being coerced into picking cotton. In the U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report, released in late July, Uzbekistan was graced with an upgrade, ostensibly for making progress with regard to child labor.
 
In the report, the U.S. State Department writes that the “Government of Uzbekistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.”

Forced Labour Rampant in Uzbekistan Cotton Harvest

Equal Times
09/22/2015
Health care workers toiling in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan are to be joined by third- and fourth-year university students forced by the government to labour in the country’s annual autumn harvest, according to stories compiled by the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights.
 
The non-profit organisation has also highlighted news that minors again may be forced into picking cotton.
 

Uzbekistan Is Forcing 'Volunteers' to Toil in Its Cotton Fields

Vice News
09/15/2015
Cotton is ever-present in our lives. It is in the clothes we wear, the towels in our bathrooms, our bed linen, even bank notes we pay with are made with cotton.
 
What is little known however is that vast amounts of the world's cotton are produced in slavery-like conditions in Central Asia. And while many are concerned about the sweatshops of Bangladesh and India, few would have heard about the forced labor of their own citizens organized by the governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
 

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