Zara slave labor factories in Argentina using child workers are under investigation.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , modern slavery estimates suggest there are as many as 27 million people trapped in slavery worldwide. If these estimates are true, then this would make human slave traffickers more active today than they were at the height of the African slave trade of the past. Many are lured to other countries by the promise of money only to find the promise a nightmare.
The Zara fashion product line, popular for its mid-range priced fashion, has 1,1540 stores worldwide with many being located in English countries like the United States and England.
Investigators claim the Zara slave labor factories used immigrant workers, including children, were discovered producing clothes for the Zara fashion label in “degrading” sweatshop conditions. Slave-like laborers work up to 13 hours and are prevented from leaving without permission. The immigrant workers, one of whom was reported to be just 14, were living in dangerous and unhygienic conditions.
Juan Gomez Centurion, head of the country’s Government Control Agency, raided three Zara slave labor factories producing Zara clothes last week:
“We found men and children who lived in place where they worked. They were not registered and they were living in terrible conditions. They had no official documents and were held against their will, they were not allowed to leave their workplaces without permission.”
The Zara fashion company has been around since 1975 and the founder Inditex is ranked seventh in Forbes’ billionaires list, with an estimated fortune of £19 billion (or $31 billion). The Spanish company behind Zara, Inditex, said today they were “surprised” by the slave labor revelations and claimed they had not been officially notified by the Argentinian authorities.
This is the second time Zara has been accused of slave and child labor in South American countries like Brazil. Zara was forced to apologize in front of state deputies at Sao Paulo’s Human Rights Commission, and later paid fines totaling more than £350,000 (or $529,760) as well as compensation to the workers.
Will be buying Zara fashion products after the accusations of Zara slave labor factories using children?
