It’s not healthy for our daughters to be coaxed to work in a high risk enviroment such as Alabuga in Russia; government must launch investigations into the Alabuga Start Programme and bring back our girls, demands child rights activist Trevor Mbewe.
The latest report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows that nearly 21 million people—three out of every 1,000 people worldwide—are victims of forced labour globally, trapped in jobs which they were coerced or deceived into and which they cannot leave.
Africa has 3.7 million people in such forced labour jobs, according to the ILO, adding that women and girls represent the greater share of the total–11.4 million, as compared to 9.5 million (45%) men and boys.
This also comes against the backdrop of news that two Malawian girls and others from the African continent are working in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which is deemed to be part of wider Russian exploitation of foreigners from developing countries. The girls are said to be working in enemy drone manufacturing facilities, according to investigative reports by the Associated Press and other international media.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Malawi confirmed receipt of the questions as to whether the government was aware of the Alabuga Start Programme and the risks associated with the area where young African girls are being made to work.
To date, the ministry or the Government of Malawi has yet to respond to queries on the Alabuga recruitment, claiming they are not aware of the two young Malawians working in risky Alabuga Special Economic Zone.
However, human and child rights defenders have demanded for the details or particulars of such Malawian girls for a speedy repatriation.
Russian Investigative outlet Protokol has also revealed that there are 182 women from Africa and Asia working in an enemy drone factory in Alabuga after being made to believe there were decent jobs for them.
The Ukrainian attack on Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tatarstan, in April 2024, showed that the area is a target for military operations and therefore risky for the African girls and others doing similar work.
The Protokol—which runs anti-war stories online from the city of Samara—revealed in an exposé that the Alabuga SEZ contains a drone factory staffed by foreign recruits.
The Alabuga SEZ runs multiple programmes, including Alabuga Polytechnic College—which provides joint work-education programmes to 15-16-year-old male Russian students—and the Alabuga Start Programme, which offers training and work specifically to girls from Africa between the age of 18 and 22.
Through the Alabuga Start Programme, girls in Africa aged between 18 and 22 years are being wooed into Russia for a variety of offers such as work and training, with attractive packages, an income which many feel is a dream come true.
Trevor Mbewe, a child rights campaigner, said there is need for the Malawi Government to launch investigations to ensure safety of its citizens and repatriation of the affected girls.
“Proper civic education to jobless Malawian youths is needed so they do not end up in such situations which can cost their lives. This is not healthy for our daughters to be coaxed to work in such an environment,” he said.
At the moment, the number of young girls recruited through the Alabuga Start Programme includes Uganda (46), Kenya (14), Nigeria (14), South Sudan (14), Rwanda (14), Sri Lanka (10), Zambia (4), Ethiopia (6), Ghana (2), Malawi (2), Mozambique (1), South Africa (6), Tanzania (4), and Zimbabwe (4).
The Alabuga Start Programme—through social media posts—shows pictures of successful applicants from African countries, who signed up for the programme with work and training promises.
Last month, lead researchers for Human Rights Watch (HRW) in the African Region said the reports were worth finding out.
HRW has many times researched happenings in Malawi and other countries. In March 2024, the HRW said Malawi should increase efforts to end widespread child and forced marriage, or risk worsening poverty, illiteracy, and preventable maternal deaths in the country.
Some of the Alabuga Start Programme material also details how to stay safe if a building collapses, indicating that supervisors are aware of the risks because an anti-drone unit called ‘Stalin’s Falcons’ is also present in the SEZ.
Agness (not her real name), a mother of five and a cross border trader, wants other women to pressure the government to investigate the matter because Malawi and Russia are using their diplomatic relations.
“The two nations are in good diplomatic relations, hence the need to use such channels to find out about the two girls for a speedy repatriation. It is not good for the country to keep quiet, but rather talk to Russia,” she stated.
This is similar to what Nancy Phiri, a Blantyre-based human rights advocate, said last month. She noted in an interview that lack of parental care and career guidance to children leads to such developments, as many young girls and boys are left to make their own decisions.
In 2022, Malawi voted to censure Russia at the United Nations for its invasion of Ukraine, while more than 15 other African countries abstained from the vote.
About two years ago, Africa lost two young men—Lemekani Nyirenda of Zambia and Nemes Tarimo of Tanzania—who were studying in Russia but found themselves at the battlefront fighting in Ukraine to secure freedom after they were arrested and jailed for alleged criminal offences.
Nyirenda and Tarimo were promised freedom from their prison terms if they successfully fought the war in Ukraine on behalf of Russia following their recruitment from prison by leader of the mercenary group Wagner, now called the Africa Corps.
Sergey Podystnik, editor of the independent Russian outlet, which exposed the story, revealed that those working at Alabuga are forced to use toxic manufacturing materials.
“Participants in an affiliated scheme at the site, the Alabuga Composite Program, have complained about inadequate protection. Other students said they developed allergic reactions to resin used, even developing severe itching and ‘small holes’ in their cheeks,” according to Podystnik.
