Sweatshop kids forced to work for just £1 a day
COUNTERFEIT versions of designer shoes, clothes and watches are often made by sweat shops employing children working under horrific conditions and controlled by vicious criminal gangs.
Children, some as young as five, are forced to churn out dozens of fake items every day for as little as £1 per day.
The sweatshop factories, typically located in China, Thailand, India and Pakistan, can produce thousands of items a year ready to ship to the UK where demand for fake goods is high.
It’s easy for counterfeiters to keep prices down for punters when overheads, including wages, are low.
A police source said: “Everyone thinks of Del Boy and the lovable rogue charm when buying their ‘hooky goods’ and no-one is thinking about the misery their fake £23 Mulberry handbag has caused the people making them.
“Even in this country, there are backstreet factories churning out thousands of fake gear ready to transport to the sellers.
“The children and vulnerable adults, many of them “illegal immigrants” are forced to work for as little as 70p an hour to make the jackets and the bags or stitching on labels in tiny dingy rooms with little or no ventilation and they don’t get a break.
“You might be pleased with your bargain but you can bet it wasn’t a pleasant experience for those who make them.”
According to Europol, counterfeiting globally is worth £414billion and represents 2.5 per cent of world trade.
A spokesman said: “Counterfeit products are often produced in unsanitised and unhygienic factories run by organised crime that violates labour laws, basic human rights, and environmental laws. Many workers, including children, are coerced through a form of modern-day slavery.”