A investigation of the investigation media establishes links between several of the former IKEA suppliers and the Belarusian penitentiary colonies.
Le Monde with AFP
ikea defended its control procedures on Thursday, November 17, aimed at ensuring that it does not use prisoner work, After a survey of the Disclose Investigation Media demonstrating Links between several of its former suppliers in Belarus and the prison colonies of the Minsk regime.
The multinational Swedish origin cut its links in March with its suppliers in the country, due to the war in Ukraine supported by President Belarusian, Alexandre Loukachenko, ally of Moscow. However, she admitted that she could not exclude 100 % that some of her products have come from the work of Belarusian prisoners. “There is, unfortunately, no system in the world sufficiently solid to guarantee zero risk of poor conduct,” said the world’s number one for furniture.
In its specifications, Ikea notably provides “forced work” and penitentiary work. “To verify that suppliers comply with these requirements, we have a well -established process, including gap assessments, compliance checks and action plan monitoring in the event of a deviation,” said Ikea.
“torture facts”
According to the Dislockd Survey, several Belarusian companies that have been until recently on the list of IKEA suppliers have collaborated with at least five prisons and penitentiary colonies of Mr. Loukachenko’s regime. These are a total of ten former Belarusian subcontractors of Ikea, including Mogotex and Ivatsevichdrev companies. According to the French media, they used the work of prisoners of various prisons (IK-2, IK-4, IK-9, IK-15 and Rypp5). These “penitentiary establishments [are] known for acts of torture, deprivation of food and care”, affirms disclose.