"Clothing brands play an important role in tackling child labour"

... With increasing frequency, Syrian refugee children are being found in Turkish factories that produce clothing for the European market... Companies affiliated to Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) are stepping up to take responsibility for working conditions in their supply chains... The FWF member signatories to this letter have all recently found and remediated cases of child labour in their supply chains... [For example, recently] [d]uring an inspection of [a] subcontractor on the brands’ behalf, FWF discovered five children working [at the factory]. All brands involved handled quickly [and] ensure[d] [in collaboration with the factories] that the children stopped working as soon as possible. [The brands and factory also ended up providing for the children's education and income compensation, by] continuing to pay the children wages until they are old enough to work legally... The sustainable solution is for brands to use their influence to prevent child labour from happening – or recurring if found. [FWF advises its member signatories to] [u]nderstand [their] supply chain and the risks of (hidden) subcontractors... [However,] [c]lothing brands alone cannot eliminate child labour. To achieve that, a joint approach is needed, involving governments, factories, trade unions and others. [This] change won’t happen overnight, but [in the meantime] the industry can use its economic influence in a coordinated manner to support positive changes at factories...