Response to The Observer story on India’s tea sector

Last weekend The Observer highlighted the terrible plight of young girls who have been trafficked to Delhi from Assam, India, and sold into domestic bonded labour. These stories were heart-wrenching and these girls and young women are commendable for their bravery in sharing them, in an effort to shine light on the issue of child trafficking in India. 

Trafficking of children is an incredibly serious issue, especially as it is so often accompanied by deplorable exploitation and abuse. The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) takes such allegations incredibly seriously, no matter where this occurs.  India has the largest population of adolescents in the world and faces critical challenges in meeting their survival and development needs. Adolescent girls are an especially vulnerable group who face barriers to the basic rights of health, nutrition, education and protection.

The Observer interviewed young girls who are daughters of Assam tea pickers. The story draws a causal link between this trafficking, and allegations of low pay within Assam’s tea sector. We commend The Observer for shining the spotlight on trafficking, low wages, and the root causes of both issues. ETI and our members would be concerned if these allegations relate to practices happening within supply chains our members source from. We have called upon The Observer to release further details to us, so that we can understand these specific allegations in more detail and investigate where necessary.

The article also looks at the pressures that Assam faces in terms of receiving government support to help alleviate poverty. We know that Assam’s tea sector faces a number of challenges, with economic factors putting pressure on growers, particularly those in smaller tea estates. There are other challenges relating to the use of migrant labour, whilst catastrophic flooding and ongoing civil and ethnic conflict has also displaced whole families and communities.

ETI is committed to bringing together our membership base, to further understand and explore the issues highlighted in The Observer’s story. Our priority at all times is that the rights of workers are respected and upheld, in accordance with the ETI Base Code of labour practice. We echo Oxfam’s comments that no one company or supplier can tackle these issues on their own – what is needed is collaboration between national and local government, trade associations, certification bodies, companies, NGOs and trade unions. These are complex and challenging issues, with no easy solutions. It will take the time and commitment of all players, if we are to drive positive change for Assam’s tea sector workers.

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