Burlington Coat Factory Wraps Up Burma Buys

The statement follows a two-month education campaign by human rights supporters and Burmese refugees. Burlington has been stocking a significant quantity of products from Burma, including by brands like Karl Kani, Rocawear, and Rafaella.

“By selling products from Burma, companies help prop up Burma’s military dictatorship,” says Ko Ko Lay of the San Francisco Burma Roundtable. “Businesses like Burlington have come to realize this, and they don’t want any part of it. We commend them for their principle.”

In a November 22 letter to the Free Burma Coalition, Burlington stated, “…this will confirm that all merchandise buyers at Burlington Coat Factory…are being instructed not to purchase any goods manufactured in Myanmar.”

Burlington joins 33 other companies in banning products from Burma, including retailers like The Children’s Place, which has recently pledged to cease all production in Burma and Federated Department Stores, the largest upscale retailer in the U.S., which implemented a policy against stocking Burmese-made goods in September. The U.K. oil company, Premier, also announced its withdrawal from Burma in September.

Members of the Free Burma Coalition, the American Anti-Slavery Group, Sacramentans for International Labor Rights, and other groups first wrote to Burlington in March after finding whole racks of products bearing “Made in Burma” tags.

The UN, the International Labor Organization, the U.S. State Department, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned human rights abuses under the military regime. Last month Human Rights Watch issued a report showing that Burma leads the world in child soldiers, with over 70,000. Burma’s regime, led by strongman Than Shwe, takes boys of the streets at gunpoint and forces them to join the military, according to the report. Burma has also been repeatedly condemned in recent months over the military’s mass rape of women in ethnic minority areas.

“Unfortunately, there are still a few companies, like Lord & Taylor, that support Burma’s dictators through trade,” says Heidi Maclean of the Sacramentans for International Labor Rights, “But more and more are saying ‘No’ to forced labor, rape, and child soldiers.”
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