Amnesty International Accuses Fashion Brands of Exploiting Garment Workers in Asia

Amnesty International has issued a strong appeal to global textile companies and the governments of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, urging them to take immediate action to uphold workers' rights and ensure fair wages within the sector. The human rights organization, which released two comprehensive reports on the issue, emphasized that fashion brands sourcing from these four Asian nations must prioritize and protect workers' rights across their entire supply chains.

The reports, meticulously compiled from nearly 90 interviews conducted across 20 factories in the aforementioned countries, unveil "widespread violations of freedom of association in the garment industry." These infringements include significant abuses of workers' rights, alongside documented acts of harassment and violence perpetrated by employers. Dominique Muller, a textile industry researcher at Amnesty, highlighted to AFP that "In many respects, the fashion industry is a model built on the exploitation of low-cost labour, and we see producing countries such as India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka effectively pressured to keep wages low and to suppress unionisation, because they want brands to place orders with them."

Despite the textile sector accounting for a substantial portion – up to 40% – of manufacturing jobs in these nations, workers frequently face dire conditions. Amnesty's findings indicate that employees are "underpaid and overworked, with limited access to fundamental rights, and are systematically deprived of their rights through informal and precarious contracts." The organization expressed deep regret that "the garment industry has not properly addressed the denial of these essential rights," allowing these systemic issues to persist.

In an effort to gauge corporate responsibility, Amnesty submitted a questionnaire to 21 companies, seeking information on their human rights policies, monitoring mechanisms, and concrete actions related to freedom of association. However, the investigation revealed "little evidence to determine whether human rights policies are being implemented at factory level." Consequently, Dominique Muller strongly advocated for a shift in corporate behavior: "Companies must stop simply repeating their commitment to freedom of association and adopt an active sourcing strategy that... rewards suppliers and countries that respect this freedom."

These critical reports emerge at a pivotal moment, coinciding with the European Union's ongoing process of developing a directive on social and environmental due diligence for large corporations. Significantly, in mid-November, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted to scale back the core ambitions of this proposed text, thereby narrowing the scope of companies it would cover and eliminating some of their crucial social and environmental obligations. This backdrop underscores the urgency and importance of Amnesty International's call for immediate action and accountability in the global textile industry.