UK retailer John Lewis and Partners will stop sourcing gems from Myanmar, reports the Irrawaddy.
“John Lewis have done the right thing by deciding to stop sourcing from Burma,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK.
Burma Campaign UK is not calling for a blanket ban on gems from Myanmar. Rather, it is calling on companies to ensure the gems they sell have not been sourced in a way that provides money to help the junta buy weapons and/or fund a military that continues to commit atrocities.
John Lewis Partnership’s decision to stop buying gems from Myanmar follows an announcement in June by TJC—one of the biggest TV shopping channels and online jewellery retailers in the UK—that it had stopped selling rubies and gems from Myanmar.