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Army or deportation: Russia arbitrarily conscripts Central Asian migrant workers for service in Ukraine.
About a hundred men are herded into a hall in northern Moscow. They are street sweepers and caretakers, all employees of a state service: migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan. They now have to serve in the Russian army, a superior tells them.
This is how human rights lawyer Valentina Tschupik describes the scene that one of the men described to her. Anyone who does not sign the contract immediately will be deported: “Of course, that was absolutely illegal.”
It’s just one of many cases known to Tschupik. For years she campaigned for the rights of migrants in Moscow. In the fall of 2021, Tschupik, who is from Uzbekistan, was deported from Russia for allegedly posing a threat to national security. Today she lives in the USA.
Systematically exploited
For decades, Central Asians in particular have been doing the backbreaking jobs in the big cities of Russia that Russians would rather not do. They are often harassed and exploited. Since Russia’s major attack, reports of migrants being sent to Ukraine have increased.
Legend:
Tajik migrant workers at a Russian course. (icon picture)
imago images/Interpress
At first they tried to deceive the people and promised them Russian citizenship for a year of service in the army, as Tschupik reports. She is in contact with dozens of those affected. Over time, the recruiters had become bolder. In the meantime, the army contracts with the entry documents are being foisted on fresh immigrants.
They only realized they were in Ukraine when they saw the bombed-out villages.
A group of Uzbek workers were told they had an assignment in “Mariupol, Moscow Region.” They didn’t know Mariupol and signed: “They only realized they were in Ukraine when they saw the bombed villages,” says Tschupik.
In the meantime, migrants in Russia are sometimes picked up by the police, beaten up in the police station and then forced to sign an army contract.
Not all of the forced conscripts have to fight at the front, as reports in independent Russian media and from Central Asia show: Many dig trenches or help rebuild destroyed cities like Mariupol. There are also women among them – they clean or cook for the Russian army.
These people are considered slaves.
Some also went to Ukraine voluntarily because they expected a higher wage. But often they are hardly paid. According to Tschupik, the cases illustrate how Russia has always treated migrant workers: “They are given tasks that nobody volunteers for. In fact, it is slavery. Because these people are considered slaves.”
countries of origin would be required
For a long time, the governments of the states of Central Asia cared little about the Russian exploitation of their compatriots. Home transfers bring important foreign currency, emigration alleviates unemployment.
But despite the traditional closeness to Russia, the governments concerned want to distance themselves from the war against Ukraine. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are now warning their citizens against joining the Russian armed forces: Anyone who serves in a foreign army risks several years in prison at home.
In some cases, the Embassy of Uzbekistan has already helped exempt migrants from army contracts. Ultimately, however, the only thing left for the countries to do is educate their citizens.