The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed news that Italian sportswear giant Kappa have stopped sourcing clothes from Burma.
Kappa – makers of the Tottenham Hotspur and Welsh national football team kits – had been the target of a boycott campaign in the UK and Italy because of its links with Burma.
Clothing exports are a major source of income for the Burma’s brutal military dictatorship. The Burma Campaign UK is campaigning to persuade high street retailers not to source clothing there. Most major high street clothing retailers, including M&S, Next, ASDA, H&M, Littlewoods, Debenhams, Warehouse, House of Fraser and BHS, now have policies not to source from Burma.
“Kappa have finally made the right decision and pulled out of Burma. Companies sourcing clothes from Burma are helping to fund a dictatorship that uses rape, torture and murder to oppress its own people,” says Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK.
Basic Net, the trademark owner of the Kappa and Robe di Kappa brands, issued the following statement:
We have always produced strictly according to the laws and to our code of conduct and therefore reject any accusation of exploitation of labour as well as any other allegation related to it. Further to the debate promoted by some non-governmental organisations on the opportunities of manufacturing in this particular country, BasicNet has decided to stop all manufacturing activities in Burma starting from March 2003. This with the hope to receive governmental dispositions with regards to this matter as soon as possible.
For more information contact Yvette Mahon, Director, on 020 7324 4714