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assisting in the realization of civil and social rights
Как минчанка попала в рабство в Турции: «Я носила с собой нож: боялась, что на меня нападут»
05.05.2018
Maria went abroad for the first time to earn money. She was promised a job as a waitress for 900 dollars a month. The girl dreamed of living by the sea and earning some money, but ended up in slavery.
Upon returning home, 19-year-old Maria Yefimovich told Salidarnasts about her employment story.
According to Maria, she found the job on the VKontakte social network in February. The ad said: "Waitress wanted outside Belarus, no intimacy."
– I wrote to the author of the ad. We called each other on Viber. Olga told me that the job was in a restaurant in Turkey. Instead of tips, they could give me a glass of juice. As the manager explained, I would have to chat with each client who bought a glass for no more than five minutes. For this, I needed to learn Turkish. I asked what document giving me the right to work I would have. Olga said they make it in Turkey. They promised a salary of 900 dollars a month. After deducting money for food and accommodation, 600 dollars remained. I thought, why not: the salary is good, and I'll be living by the sea.
That same evening, the manager bought Maria a plane ticket, and the next day the girl flew to Turkey.
– In Izmir, I was met by Olga and Ahmed-bey, our employer. They took me to an apartment. When I saw the cats, I felt better. I thought that if people treat animals well, they will treat people well too. Silly logic.
Olga said that no one would tell me about the document I would be working under. She said the document was serious, and they would watch me for some time and decide whether to tell me about it or not.
In the four-room apartment where Maria was taken, there lived manager Olga, Turk Ahmed-bey, and two girls from Hrodna who had come to Turkey to work.
– As I was explained, the boss lives with us because foreigners wouldn't be given an apartment in Turkey. The girls were told not to talk to me in Russian so that I would learn Turkish faster. I understood it as a hint not to communicate. Two days later, the girls were taken to another city.
Maria was given 10 days to study Turkish. During this time, she was outside twice – she went to the store, but not alone, but accompanied.
– Ahmed-bey left, and I suggested to Olga to take a walk. In response, I heard: "Masha, I was thinking of sending you home. You don't take your work seriously." I thought they were accusing me of not having enough air, freedom, or walks outside. I regret not going home at that moment.
In a week and a half, Maria was told to get ready for work. The girl put on makeup, but her superiors didn't like it.
– I put on a little foundation and touched up my eyebrows. They told me that wouldn't do. So I drew on eyeliner and mascara. And again they said: the makeup doesn't suit, they say, it's too dull. Olga said that she would do my makeup herself.
Maria saw herself in the mirror and was horrified.
– I looked like a panda: with black eyes, heavily made-up eyebrows, plus blush. And I had a doubt: what kind of waitress job is this, when I'm made up like a prostitute?
They explained the essence of her work to Maria: she had to sit down with clients and "talk them into" buying drinks. The production norm was 15 glasses per shift. The workplace turned out to be not a restaurant, as was stated at the beginning, but a club. Maria was forbidden to talk to Russian-speaking employees.
After the first working evening, Maria had a conflict with the boss.
– I asked him: "You said that my document is not a work visa, and those foreign women who work here have a work visa, and there's no point in working here with this document. So why are they working?" He says: "They are prostitutes." I say: "Why do you think so?" And that's when I was told that they want to send me home because I stood up for the prostitutes.
As I understood, Ahmed and Olga were afraid that I might blab to the other girls about the document they would make for me, and their whole system would collapse.
After the conflict, Maria was not sent to the club.
– I sat in the apartment and learned Turkish. They treated me terribly, – Maria continues her story. – A second manager Elena came to us with the children. They would eat and say: "Clean up!" I became a housekeeper for them. Olga said that I didn't wash the floor or dishes well.
Soon Olga changed her anger to favor and told Maria that she had persuaded Ahmed Bey to make a document for me – a kimlik.
Maria asked what if the police came to the club and checked the documents.
– Olga reassured me: "Don't worry, the document is real, because it's made at the passport office in Istanbul, where Ahmed Bey has connections." That's how I got a fake Turkish citizenship. The document said that my name was Yulia, I was Moldovan, and I was 34 years old.
Soon a new worker appeared in the apartment – Alena from Minsk.
– We seemed to have become friends with her and got along well. They treated her very well, unlike me. Then two more girls arrived – also from Belarus. We were sent to work at the Braté club.
According to Maria, various situations arose at work.
– My shoes, which I brought with me, tore. They were stable – on a thick heel. They gave me shoes with huge stilettos. At the club, they forced me to dance the Kalinka-Malinka at least once per shift. My feet were tired, and I took off my shoes. The girls saw and also took off their shoes. In the evening, Ahmed Bey said: «If you took off your shoes, why didn't you undress completely?»
Work at the club started at seven in the evening and lasted until three in the morning.
– I never met the quota of 15 glasses per shift. Turkish women who worked at the club with us were brought alcohol. We were brought cola mixed with water when the client ordered beer.
Maria says she didn't allow club visitors to touch her:
– I got up and left – I didn't care about the glass quota if harassment began.
Before going to work, manager Elena took the girls' passports, and returned them after work.
– Elena looked after us at the club. One day she took the passports and didn't return them. Two girls and I started planning an escape. Alena didn't participate in this – she was ingratiating herself with the authorities.
One evening Maria failed to meet the quota again, and they decided to send her home.
– They told me: write to your relatives and friends to send 750 dollars – for the ticket and for the document they made for me.
The girl wrote to her parents.
– They panicked, called the ambassador. He called Olga. After that conversation, she said she was fired because of me.
The next day, Alena raised her hand against Maria. She blamed me for Olga's dismissal, started insulting and beating me. The next day, Olga came and raised her hand against me.
Maria admits that she was afraid to be in the apartment.
– I walked around with a knife, afraid that I would be attacked... Fortunately, my parents quickly found the money, and I was finally sent home.
The girl's passport was returned at the airport.
– Olga told me that the ambassador just laughed at this situation.
– What did they say at the embassy to your parents?
– They told them that I refused help. But when the embassy staff contacted me by phone, Elena and Olga were standing over me, saying: "Say that you're going home in a couple of days." So I said I was returning to Belarus.
According to Maria's story, even after her parents raised the alarm, she continued to be in a situation where her life and health were at risk. Neither the Turkish law enforcement nor the embassy staff came to the apartment where Maria was living.
The girl is glad that she managed to escape from Turkish captivity, where she spent forty days. By the way, she never got to see the sea.
– This is slavery, – she says. – They limited our communication with family and friends. Told us not to talk about our work. Rarely gave us the opportunity to access the internet.
Maria decided to tell her story so that other Belarusian women wouldn't end up in the same situation.
– Before the trip, I had to call a call center to inquire about employment in Turkey. I'm sure they wouldn't have told me that it was a good job.
"Salidarnast" reached out for a comment to a native of Vitebsk – manager Olga, who is involved in finding people for work in Turkey. Olga did not respond to the Viber message.
Source: www.belaruspartisan.by
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