It's Looking Increasingly Like The Primark "Cry For Help" Is A Hoax

    Primark says the first two garments were made "thousands of miles apart".

    Alan White
    by Alan White

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    Last week Rebecca Gallagher, 25, from Gowerton, said she found this label in a dress she bought.

    Wales News Service

    She told the South Wales Evening Post that she was shocked to read a label in a bargain £10 summer dress she bought from a High Street fashion chain because it read: “Forced to work exhausting hours”.

    And yesterday a second message was revealed to have been found sewn into an item from their Swansea store.

    Wales News Service

    The second shopper, Rebecca Williams, 21, told South Wales Evening News: "I used to shop a lot at Primark but not so much now. The label has made me think about how my clothes are made."

    Miss Williams, of Porthcawl, South Wales, said she raised the alarm after she read the reports this week of a similar label found in the same Swansea store. She said she had tweeted a photograph of the "cry for help" to Primark and also tried to ring them but was put on hold and then cut off.

    We have had two instances of this issue arising in Swansea, raising a number of suspicions for us:1 . The labels appear to be of a very similar type, attached to the garments in the same way.2. The two garments were on sale around the same time in 2013.3. They were made in two different countries many thousands of miles apart.

    BuzzFeed has asked the retailer for more details but it has refused to comment further.

    Yesterday a third SOS note was found.

    SWNS
    SWNS

    Karen Wisinska, 28, said she found this plea for help inside khaki three-quarter length trousers she bought for £10 at a store in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

    It reads: "We are inmates of the Hubei Xiangna Prison, working on clothing lines for export over a long period of time. We work 15 hours per day and the food we eat wouldn’t even be given to dogs or pigs. We work as hard as oxen in the field. We call on the international community to condemn the Chinese government for the violation of our human rights."

    With regard to the issue in Northern Ireland involving a pair of ¾ crop trousers, this product line was last ordered by Primark in early 2009 and was last sold in Northern Ireland in October 2009. We find it very strange that this too has come to light so recently, given that the trousers were on sale four years ago. Nine inspections of the supplier who made the ¾ crop trousers have been carried out by Primark's ethical standards team since 2009. To be clear, no prison or other forced labour of any kind was found during these inspections.

    BuzzFeed has reached out to all three women for further comment.