Amazon pulls ‘slavery’ kids’ items

CHILDREN’S clothes bearing the slogan “Slavery gets sh*t done” have been pulled from sale by online retail giant Amazon.com after criticism from shoppers and anti-slavery groups.

A range of products featuring the slogan, from mugs and bags to T-shirts modelled by young children, were listed by third-party sellers and have been removed from sale, Amazon said.

“All marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,” an Amazon spokesman said.

“The products in question are no longer available.”

The sale of such items by a major retailer trivialises the global drive to end modern slavery, charities Anti-Slavery International (ASI) and International Justice Mission (IJM) UK said.

“If it was meant to be funny, it failed miserably,” Jakub Sobik, of ASI, said.

More than 40 million people were living as modern slaves last year, either trapped in forced labour or forced marriages, according to the United Nations International Labour Organisation.

“Children the same age as those modelling the T-shirts will be forced to work long hours for no pay in desperate conditions,” IJM UK chief executive David Westlake said.

“Rather than trivialising slavery, companies and the global community must recognise the vast injustice of modern slavery and work together to end it for good.”