The World Rugs Emporium purchases rugs which are made all over the world, the regions which supply us with rugs are Belgium, India and China.

All the rugs which are produced in Belgium are machine woven in up to date factories and to strict quality procedures. All the handmade rugs that are made in India and China are produced Free of Child Labor.

Child Labor in the Handmade Carpet Industry
The handmade carpet industry exploits nearly 300,000 children in South Asia and is a major “employer” of child labor. Children ages 4 to 14 are kidnapped or trafficked, then sold into debt bondage or forced labor. They are subject to malnutrition, impaired vision and deformities from sitting long hours in cramped loom sheds. They suffer respiratory diseases from inhaling wool fibers and wounds from using sharp tools.

Rugs are among South Asia’s top export products and a high-employment sector for the poor. If child exploitation is a norm in a country’s principle industry, there is little chance to break the cycle of extreme poverty.

"Child labour has serious consequences that stay with the individual and with society for far longer than the years of childhood. Young workers not only face dangerous working conditions. They face long-term physical, intellectual and emotional stress. They face an adulthood of unemployment and illiteracy".

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan