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Stolen passport, guarded territory, escape in the dark of night. How a Belarusian fell into labor slavery for $700
11.08.2023
A wide highway, like a лимб, divides the Baranovichi area into two parts: on the right, on Bogataya Street (no, this is not a literary exaggeration, but a real name) — solid cozy cottages, and on the left — aged brick houses and a reality that one wants to turn away from. Igor, the 62-year-old owner of the apartment, pours us tea, apologizing for the lack of a teapot. He got the left side of Baranovichi life. Obviously, he, although he would never admit it, is ashamed of the tiny kitchen, the wallpaper, the cups, the old linoleum — everything that smells of loneliness and poverty. How did he end up at this point? Why did he agree to tell journalists the story of labor slavery? And how is it even possible for a person to consider violence and humiliation the norm? Journalist Onl?ner Polina Lesovets tried to find answers.
From the very first years, when Igor was born, life was neither kind nor gentle to him. This can be understood both by the look in his tired eyes, hidden behind glasses, and by the habit of smoking — detached, silent, exhaling quiet, invisible despair with the smoke.
— My upbringing was violent on the part of my father. All sorts of things happened: we were put on peas, on salt. My father was cruel, yes. But he raised me, — Igor clears his throat. — When he died, I crossed myself: «Finally». It was in 1974. My sister also died… at the age of 25. Well, that's it… I was left with my mother.
In a tiny kitchen, where there isn't even a refrigerator, it's very strange to discuss the correlation that researchers have found: experiencing physical or emotional abuse in childhood can lead to experiences of labor exploitation in the future. Igor doesn't think in such categories. Today it's raining, which means the blueberries in the forest — almost the only source of his existence — are canceled. That's what's important.
Instead of long-forgotten cause-and-effect chains of domestic violence, the man prefers to remember the «golden age» of abundance.
— As long as my mother was alive, everything was fine with me. She left in 2008… They lived with my stepfather in the village, 25 kilometers from Baranovichi. I built a house there — with my stepfather together. My mother kept two cows, five or six pigs, I only needed to buy bread, salt, sugar at the store, and that's it. When my mother was gone, I became unnecessary to my wife. She found some officer. And I was left alone.
This is the kind of life strung together with large beads of loneliness. Even before his divorces (and Igor had two), the man recalls himself as a lonely person: «Almost always alone. Travelling, on business trips». After parting with his second wife, something finally broke... It seems that the only person who is attached to Igor today is his youngest daughter. «Evgenia, little Evgenia,» the man repeats. «Will you show this text to Evgenia?»
The story that is important to us — illustrative and in some ways bitterly similar to others — took place in 2019—2020. The loud words — «labour slavery» — but they describe Igor's experience. Interestingly, he himself calls what happened just a «mess», an «unclear story». According to employees of the International Organization for Migration, the concept of normality in such cases is often blurred — alas, this is a typical effect of thinking when the victim оправдывает the criminal.
— Many jobs have passed through my life. I've been a driver, a builder. Mostly I worked on odd jobs. I travelled around Russia, was in different cities. Earned money — where they paid, and where they passed by, — Igor clears his throat again. — In 2019, I read an advertisement saying that workers were needed in Moscow, including drivers. Salary — from $700. So I went. I think: I'll earn some money!.. Somewhere in mid-October, we left for Moscow by bus, there were five Belarusians. We arrived, spent a day resting in the hostel, then got a job at the site. We worked for a month — there was no such salary. They didn't pay the money they promised. They gave us pennies, just to survive. I earned about $220. I thought, probably, it's like this before the New Year. We spent a month there — no progress.
What to go home with for the New Year? No money at all. Then I called a friend, he advised me another organization (let's call it «T». — Note by Onl?ner). In the 20s of December, I left the first site and transferred to «T» — it's also a construction organization. And that's it.
Igor and other employees' passports were immediately taken away, explaining that registration needed to be done. Of course, it was a lie. The construction site was guarded, it was forbidden to go into the city, even after work. The answer to the question «Why?» was monosyllabic: «Coronavirus!»
— I lived in a trailer, there were five of us there, — Igor recalls. — An ordinary trailer. Wooden bunks made of planks. No mattresses, no linen, I used whatever I found — some kind of padded jacket. The heating is very poor, there's a heater. It's winter after all. The toilet is outside, in a booth.
Everyone is from our common country: Tajiks, Georgians, Armenians, Belarusians, Ukrainians. All nationalities.
When the coronavirus hit, we were stuck on the construction site, they didn't let us out. I gave the money I earned at the first site to Vasily, the guard, who I became friends with. He's from Vitebsk himself, a fellow countryman after all. So I made a deal with him: he would buy food and bring it in, even though it was forbidden. We would make a list for Vasily of what to buy. Well, what could we mainly buy? Rolton noodles. There was a small burner, so we cooked. That's how we lived.
They took our passports away — supposedly for registration, so the police wouldn't bother us. They wouldn't let us out. They said: «Protected area». Plus, the coronavirus started — constant face masks. The guards wouldn't let us out «due to the epidemic». They said we owed money for accommodation and not to forget about it.
Strange things started happening with the salary from the very first day. They simply didn't pay us. After a month and a half of work, Igor asked to be paid, but the foreman vaguely referred to «temporary difficulties».
— And it's a monolith. A construction site. There was quite a lot of work. One day I was walking, slipped on the reinforcement — tore my hand. The foreman shouted: «Did you come to work or what?!» I took a bandage from the guard, bandaged myself, spent two days in the trailer, but I had to work. I went back to work through the pain. That's how I lost these fingers, — Igor clenches his right hand, which trembles slightly. — There was no medical help. They didn't let me go to the hospital. Nobody was allowed to go anywhere.
The Belarusian spent three months in such conditions before deciding to escape.
— In March, the security guard told me: «Igor, you'd better pack up and leave». But I didn't have any documents. I went to the head of security — he had my passport, no registration. Why did they keep the passports? They tricked me. I was on good terms with the Belarusian security guard. I said: «Take my passport». He took it. I left at night, actually. I was secretly escaping. During the day there was work, management, foreman... That's why I went at night. A fellow countryman opened the gate and I left. It took me three days to get home to Belarus: I walked along the highway, hitchhiking — some would give me a lift for five kilometers, others for ten or twenty. I spent the nights in some villages. On March 16th I was already in Baranovichi.
After the story with the night escape, looking straight into tired eyes behind glasses, I ask one single question:
— Do you call what happened to you labor slavery?
— It looks like it. I got into such a mess. Not that it was slavery, but forced labor. And there you have a choice: either leave or keep working. And why should I work? They didn't pay the promised money. They gave me some мелочь, that's all. Although they promised from $700 and above.
They didn't exploit me much. Just... They give you work and you have no choice. You'll do it whether you want to or not. Well, otherwise... They started to хитрить: saying the employer is delaying salaries, wait. We waited and waited, and then: how long can we wait? They fed us with promises. They never paid a specific amount. Allegedly an «advance» — 500 Russian rubles (about 17 Belarusian — Onl?ner note), 2000 (?66), 3000 (?100) — to keep you going. But there was never any main income.
Three years later, in 2023, company «T» continues to operate. Court case? Lawsuit? No. None of the victims, including Igor, went to court.
— Would it have changed anything?.. — the man looks at me almost angrily.
— In 2020, someone advised me to call the hotline in Brest. I called, explained the situation. There was a great woman, Natalya Vladimirovna — she was wonderful! She came, bought groceries — everything was free. Then the International Organization for Migration invited me to rehabilitation in Minsk for two weeks. They treated me well. The psychologist there was a very nice woman. She would come and ask, «How are you?» She would sit down and talk to me all the time. She was interested. And other women were great too. They would say, «Go eat something», all the time. «Go to the movies, to the theater», they give you money, go wherever you want. I didn't need anything there. I lived for two weeks. The kitchen was completely at your disposal, the fridge was full — I ate my fill, so to speak.
They made appointments for me with doctors, took me to the hospital. I had a fluorography — they found a dark spot. Suspicion of cancer. As a result, they did surgery in Brest, removed a third of my lung and said that everything seemed to be fine. Fine-fine, but who to believe?
— Could this be related to the fact that you lived in trailers, on bare bunks, without heating?
— I don't even know… I applied for a disability group at the oncology hospital. A young doctor told me: «A third of your lung was removed? Well, that's not so bad. When they take away half or all of your lung, then you can think about a group».
Now Igor survives by foraging and occasional odd jobs. Perhaps he has mastered the highest degree of freedom by renouncing everything material, including his former four-room apartment, which «black real estate agents» exchanged for his current one-room apartment, paying only $1000. Or perhaps we should stop using euphemisms and say that this is life below the poverty line.
— Retirement will probably only be at 65 years old, because I don't have enough стажа. Well, otherwise the forest feeds me. While there are mushrooms, while there are berries — that's how I live. You need to get up early, at four o'clock, and go far. Sometimes I come back at eight in the evening… The International Organization for Migration helps, Brest helps, the «Club of Business Women» helps, my little daughter helps. She's only 25, she's still single, without a husband. She lives in Minsk. «Little daughter, send some money to your dad», I say. She sends it. I receive — 20 rubles, 30. When she comes, she buys groceries, takes me to the store, says: «Take a basket», buys whatever she wants, Igor says with pride.
— I don't show my face because I don't like publicity. I'm not ashamed of anything, I have nothing to be ashamed of. I wouldn't give you an interview if I felt any guilt or shame, right? I have nothing to hide.
It's a pity, of course, that I came without money. I regret that I really got into such a mess. Maybe it's related to the end or the beginning of the year? It's inexplicable. These employers all look the same. They're all so nice, and then when you start working... Now I think that I shouldn't travel anywhere anymore, I should just live out my days on this Belarusian land.
The system in which workers are deceived on construction sites periodically comes to any republic — and Belarus has such a problem, and Russia does too. The organization "T" continues to operate. Everyone is satisfied with everything, in a word. Over time, everything is forgotten. An incident happened — so be it. Have I forgotten? Do I feel anger about how I was treated? Well... It's unpleasant how I was treated. But I'm not the only one. Many...
Igor sees us off to the car. He helps close the door. And he looks, stares intently, reflected in the rearview mirror, becoming smaller and smaller, turning into a blurred black dot. And now there is no more Rich Street, no Poor Street, not even Baranovichi themselves...
I imagine him taking out a cigarette, standing by the entrance, and along with the tobacco smoke, he'll exhale again the quiet, invisible despair.
It's very easy to say that his life is a consequence of his own mistakes and poor choices. It's much harder not to look away and see a person in the inhuman.
Commentary
How does the thinking process work when the victim himself considers labor exploitation to be the norm? And where to seek help in such a situation? Psychologist Victoria Kotova from the International Organization for Migration answers.
— During the process of exploitation, a person experiences severe stress, and therefore a distorted understanding of the situation may arise, a lack of awareness of the severity of the harm caused to him. It's difficult for the victim to give a systemic assessment of what's happening.
Such thoughts become an opportunity to minimize the consequences for oneself, and it is also an attempt to regain control over the situation and one's life. In addition, a person has been confronted for a long time with the beliefs and positions of people who blamed, made claims, and ridiculed the пострадавшая side. A person wants to unconsciously defend themselves against such accusations and beliefs and, as a result, takes the blame for what happened upon themselves, removing responsibility from the criminals. Traffickers may use various manipulative techniques to convince that everything that happens is the norm.
I want to emphasize: each situation is individual. Most often, it is very difficult for people to talk about such traumatic experiences, let alone analyze the situation and think soberly.
The International Organization for Migration keeps its own statistics of victims of exploitation who turned to the IOM for help. In 2019, there were 129 such people, in 2020 — 44, in 2021 — 74, in 2022 — 97, in 2023 — 49 (but the year is not over yet).
Every person affected by human trafficking has the right to assistance and protection. Since 2002, the IOM in Belarus has been implementing programs to combat human trafficking. To date, about 4 thousand victims of human trafficking have received comprehensive assistance from the IOM in rehabilitation and reintegration.
The IOM in Belarus supports the work of a nationwide free hotline on issues of safe travel and stay abroad. The best way to protect yourself from exploitation is to clarify information about the employer before starting any relationship with him.
If you encounter human trafficking, you can seek help from the IOM (for example, write to iomminsk@iom.int) or call the hotline.
Hotline on issues of safe travel abroad:
- 113 (from landline phones).
- 8 (801) 201-55-55 (from landline phones, A1, MTS, life:); call within Belarus is free).
- +375 (162) 21-88-88 (for calls from outside Belarus).
- bpwbrest.by (online consultations).
Source: www.onliner.by
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