“I like Russia, its language and culture,” 20 -year -old Aminata told DW. She wants to leave her country Sierra Leon in a few weeks to motivate her country to inspire trading about 7,000 kilometers (4.300 mi) in Russia.
The cost of his journey will be covered by the Allabuga Start Program, named after an industrial area in South -West Russia, where the program is provided for participants.
Allabuga start offers women applicants from poor countries a well -paid career.
Dreams of better life
For most of them, a large industrial area in the Russian region of Tattarsan, Albuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Sapna has become gentle soon after his arrival in SEZ.
according to a Report Transportation organized crime (GI) against the global initiative published in May, many new arrival were to assemble cheap drones under bad conditions.
DW contacted several programs participants – most of whom do not want to talk about their experiences from fear of negters.
However, Chinara, a young Nigerian woman who attended the Albuga program and disappointed Russia, was ready to interview the difference through Messenger.
“He turned us into hard laborers with low wages,” he wrote in chat with DW.
Chinara wrote, “At first we liked it because when we applied, we were offered as the logistics, service and catering, crane operators,” Chinara wrote, whose name has been replaced to protect her identity.
He explained that first of all it seemed like a rare opportunity for African girls to set foot in these professionals. “But when we arrived here, they changed everything and gave excuses.”
Some said that a drone assembly was assigned to the factory, others monitored drone production, and the rest served as cleaner.
Young women were informed about “highly dangerous and life-drank chemicals,” Chinra claimed, “Even the subjects of Russians do not work for a long time because it is a very dangerous place.”
A center of war economy
The Albuga SEZ Garen -2 is a major production center for drone, based on the Iranian manufactured Shahd 136 and plays an important role in attacks on Ukraine.
The SEZ was established in 2006 to attract the company and investment to Tatarstan.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the convenience expanded rapidly and the parts were converted into military production by adding or renovation of new buildings, as satellite drawings.
Lack of labor from Russia falling in war is repeatedly reported. At the same time, migrant workers of Global South are clearly focused more for the recruiters.
For the official information and statistical system (SIIS) data for the official Russian government database, more 111,000 African workers arrived in Russia in 2024 in 2024 – 50%compared to the first year of the war in 2022.
The strongest growth was recorded by the Cameronian, with several others from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Central African Republic and Gambia.
In relation to Alabuga Start, almost all of these countries in GI study. Initially, according to the study, African women were mainly recruited between 22 and 22.
Since then the program has been expanded to Asia and other developing countries of Latin America and many former Soviet Republics.
The authors of the study analyzed data and chat and conducted around 60 interviews between 2024 and March 2025.
Co-Ara Julia Stand told DW that girls of 16 years of age were very rental for drone production by Albuga Polytech training facility, which is located at the production site.
“Working status is exploitative, young women talked about working for a long time and being maintained by Albuga management. They work with chemicals that pose risk to their health,” Stanard said.
‘Our daughter forcibly talks about labor’
“The program resembles the exploitation of fraud,” Stanard told DW. “They are not told what they will produce when they are recruited.
In Zimbabwe, parents are worried about their children who applied online and left for Russia with a tarp.
The mother of a girl from rural North Zimbabwe complained about her daughter’s pain.
She said, “She wanted to pursue her technical education. Now she told us about forced labor, she is hardly allowed to use her phone and monitoring. She has not received $ 1,500 (€ 1.300), was promised,” she told DW. “Now I can’t get it back.”
A father of another girl leaving Zimbabwe for Albuga SEZ told DW that it was a bad dream that a reliable training program had a gym in “A Death Trap”.
And in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, a mother told DW about her 20 -year -old daughter in Albuga, who was to undergo technical training.
“But she is doing something different. We can hardly talk to her, her passport is because she cannot run,” the woman told DW.
Interpol investigates in Botswana
In the neighboring country of Botswana, the training program has now attracted the attention of investigators: Interpol The sampling has stepped to what is involved in the start human traffic.
“The Sham mask of Allabuga has begun to raise a bit,” Stanard claimed that some countries search as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – have become more aware of the risks of the program and have tested lunch.
Albuga start PDid not raga Reply to DW request For Comment
Garikai Mafirva In Zimbabwe and Alexi Strylnikov This article reporting, which has been customized by German
