**7. How the organized migrant recruitment scheme works in real life**

*This scheme may not reflect certain aspects of reality.* Based on the official statistics of AELM Uz and the human rights work of NGO "TONG JAHONI," we will consider situation with Uzbek migrants' complaints.

**Figure 1**. The number of appeals to NGO "TONG JAHONI" from 01.12.2020 to 01.11.2021 behind free legal aid, on nationality of addressed, shows that the main violations are made concerning migrants of the countries of Central Asia. **Figure 1** shows that all three Central Asian countries are the leaders of appeals about violations of the rights of migrants. The number of appeals by citizens of these countries is over 20 times more frequent than from other countries. And it does not matter whether the migrant comes from country of the Eurasian union or the CIS. Migrants used Mobil phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook messenger, comments to YouTube video, Telegram and personal visits to NGO to talk about their problems with NGO's workers.

**Figure 1** shows the huge number of complaints by migrant workers from Uzbekistan regarding violations of their rights.

#### **Figure 1.**

*Number of calls to NGO "TONG JAHONI" from 01.12.2020 till 01.11.2021. Source: Case database NGO "TONG JAHONI."*

#### **Figure 2.**

*The number of appeals to NGO "TONG JAHONI" from 01.12.2020 till 01.11.2021 concerning cases of slavery and human trafficking. Source: Case database NGO "TONG JAHONI."*

**Figure 2** shows number of slavery and human trafficking victims identified by NGO TONG JAHONI out of the total number of applicants by nationality (01.12.2020– 01.11.2021). But that cases identified slavery counted according to migrants' appeals. In case if Uzbekistan number in the thousands, whilst in other countries these are just single digits. This is due to the bad organization of an organized recruitment system in Uzbekistan, as we present below in this paper. The other countries do not practice organized recruitment yet. For example, Tajikistan signed similar agreement with Russia but stopped its implementations due to risk of such cases.

To understand the underlying violations, refer to **Table 2**. As we see from **Table 2**, the number of calls is increasing. This may be due to both the growth of those involved in migration, and improved access to treatment opportunities, as well as increased contact of this NPO with migrants but also due to massive violation of migrants' rights.

As we will see from the cases below, the employer often does not release the employee until he has reimbursed his expenses for the employer, and the employer is tempted to exploit the employee (who is deprived of the employer's freedom of choice, which is actual slavery), as long as possible.

Consider several typical cases:

Case 1 – year 2016. 90 men aged 22–40 were selected for the construction of the Lakhta Shopping Mall in Saint Petersburg. As soon as they arrived in St. Petersburg, their passports were taken away and they were driven to country side town Priozersk, where they were accommodated in a hostel with 24 people per room. The employer did not fulfill their promise to arrange for the issuance of patents for them. They were fed badly, and their passports were never returned. They could not leave the hostel and could not escape. When the migrants exited a hungry riot, the anti-riot police squad was called, that beat them and threatened with deportation. The representative of the outsourcing company who came the next day demanded them to pay 8500 rubles (100 US dollars) each for accommodation and meals and 10,000 rubles (about 130 US

*State Organized Recruitment for the Russian Enterprises: Is It a Pass to a Better Life or to Slavery? DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110740*


**Table 2.**

*The reasons for calls to human right NPO "TONG JAHONI".*

dollars) each for "ransom to the police" so that they would not be deported due to lack of registration and patent. Some migrants began to demand that they be sent home, others to be given passports, whilst some agreed to work without documents and even signed bills of debt. Most of the migrants were then "resold" to a person who said that they should go to work without patents and payment, as he had "BOUGHT" those migrants, allegedly paying their debts. One of the migrants contacted the NGO TONG JAHONI, which contacted the consul to send the migrants back to Uzbekistan. The consul secured the return of passports and sent migrants home.

The situation falls under the violation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CC RF) under articles related to trafficking 127.1. and with slavery 127.2., and 332.1 articles on illegal migration of the CC RF, as well as the Labour Code of the Russian Federation. But there was no punishment to the employers. The Agency did not control situation and the police was on the employers' side as we could see.

Case 2 – year 2018. In Tashkent, the Agency was looking for skilled workers to work at the plant. There were no such specialists found. Then the Agency promised potential migrants to get them to those job positions for a bribe, promising that they could later, upon arrival, transfer to another job. 300 people were recruited, brought to St. Petersburg, where their passports were taken away in the hostel immediately, and the next day they were taken for execution of the patents, for which they were forced to pay on their own, although under an agreement with AELM, it was the employer who had to pay for it. 2 weeks later they were brought to the factory, where it turned out that migrants did not have the specialties that they indicated in questionnaires and patents. After a big scandal, migrants were kicked out of work and without passports and patents began to be resold by groups of 10–15–20 people, as their passports were sent to construction sites in the Kaluga, Moscow, and Rostov regions. People found themselves in a situation of illegality, working for food for 10–12 hours a day without weekends and holidays. Of these, 5 people were abused by exploiters and supervisors, including 1 person who suffered from sexual violence.

The corrupt nature of the Agency is evident in how they created a situation that misled the employer. He decided that the cheapest way to avoid bringing a case against the Agency to court was to sell the migrants. The situation falls under the violation of the CC RF under articles related to trafficking and slavery 127.1. and 127.2., and the organization of illegal migration as well (332.1), in addition there are other articles on sexual exploitation and abuse. According to the information, there was no opened case or trail.

Case 3 – year 2021. In March–April of 2021, the Bureau of AELM of Bukhara Viloyat (regional authority) on its website posted vacancies for poultry workers in the Tambov region with a promise of salaries starting from 52,000 up to 70,000 rubles (from about 900 to 1000 US dollars). The representative of the employer of Interservice LLC selected candidates who knew Russian, were physically strong and had relevant work experience. Upon their arrival to Russia, he took away their passports, and brought them to a poultry farm in the Tambov region, where 42 people were placed in a small house 40 m2 in size, with no water, kitchen, heating, and sewage. There they worked without any legal paperwork, in the cold building with a temperature about +9 C, without water, dressing hens**'** carcasses for 15 hours a day, 7 days a week without holidays. Once a day they were fed chicken giblets soup and mashed potatoes. Therefore, many caught a cold and fell ill. No medical care was provided to the sick, and 11,000 rubles (about 180 US dollars) were deducted from their salary for absenteeism. For 3.5 months of work, 42 employees were paid 3800 rubles for all (about 50 US dollars). The repeated appeals of migrants to the police did not give any result, nor did an appeal to the head of the Bureau of AELM in Bukhara Viloyat. The

*State Organized Recruitment for the Russian Enterprises: Is It a Pass to a Better Life or to Slavery? DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110740*

victims turned to the NGO TONG JAHONI, which helped to return their passports, secured the placement of migrants before returning home in the Moscow AELM shelter, and opened a criminal case on organizing illegal migration against Interservice LLC in the Tambov region. However, they did not get a chance to get paid for their labour, as well as to get compensation for slave exploitation and harm to health.

This case also falls under the violation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation under articles related to slavery, violations of Russian labour legislation, and Article 322.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, violations of the migrant control system as well as violation by the Uzbek authorities of legislation on protection against labour slavery. Again we can see the Agency do not protect their citizens and Russian police as well.

Case 4 – year 2021. A migrant from the Syrdarya Region has a family of 5 children. His wife turned to the anti-trafficking NGO, stating that her husband was chosen for work in St. Petersburg through AELM and was offered a salary of 80 thousand rubles (about \$800) with accommodation in a hostel. AELM helped him open a loan of \$1000 in the bank and immediately withdrew \$400 for its services, including 3-day training, for which the migrant paid himself. Then with a group of other migrants, he went from AELM to St. Petersburg, and again, this trip was not employer-sponsored, but on account of loan that was imposed on him. After arriving in Moscow, instead of the promised 80 thousand rubles he found in the contract a salary that equaled the official minimum monthly wage of 27 thousand rubles. He was settled in a hostel for a month, but no work was provided and no patent was issued, and after a while he was kicked out of the hostel. He tried to get a job himself, but after 3–7 days of work he was fired without pay, and he fainted from hunger. Many of his group returned home themselves or went to Moscow to the embassy to demand a return. He does not have money for a ticket. For the loan taken, the bank began to demand interest from his wife, so she had to sell their furniture to pay 700 thousand sums (700 dollars for 1000 taken). When the migrant returns, a great debt awaits him at home.

This case is also subject to violation of the Organized Recruitment Agreement by both the employer and the Agency, fraud by Credit Agency and corruption approach from all these organizations. The Agency plaid as initiator of the corruption scheme.

#### **7.1 Bottom of form**

The selected cases are typical amongst numerous others. All patterns of using migrants as slaves are very similar:

The Agency is the first step in human trafficking and enslavement. What it does is:

(a) misleading migrant workers; (b) not controlling their situation in Russia; (c) failing to fulfill its obligations to recruit the necessary employees; (d) extorting money from employers. Thus, it all begins with the unscrupulous attitude of the Agency.

The employer is also often involved in this scheme. He wants to return the costs and therefore (a) violates the provisions of the International Agreement on Organized Recruitment, (b) violates the contract with migrants, (c) violates the legislation of the Russian Federation on many articles related primarily to (c-1) the seizure of documents, (c-2) coercion to illegality, (c-3) non-registration of documents of migrants, (c-4) coercion to work, (c-5) restriction of freedom of movement, (c-6) poor working conditions. There is often abuse of power by the police as a result of which the migrant falls into debt bondage. Many cases of unlawful deprivation of liberty using the police are recorded.

*An interview with an employer from Russia proves our conclusion about involvement of Agency into the slavery situation. This person refused the services of the Agency, since he had to officially pay for each migrant under an agreement with the Agency, plus unofficially with "black money" in the equivalent of 250—300 US dollars per person. If the employer pays this money, then the Agency helps him: in a microfinance organization at Solidarity Bank, at 48% per annum, he can take a loan in the name of the migrant, after which the migrant signs a receipt in the papers about his obligations to go to work and to appear at the airport. In his papers there is a line about consent to receive a loan. The loan is received by the employer* (about 1000 US dollars in sums)—and 400 US dollars from this sum immediately goes to the Agency, whilst the employer receives its part (in order to reimburse the Agency for its services), and for the rest of the sum a *ticket for a migrant to Russia is purchased. The payment of* debt with huge percentages is due to the migrant or his family.

This conclusion from our cases is supported by Media news. In 2018 a bribe scandal revealed corruption in the Agency, falling into the media. Then they detained 20 AELM workers, the head of the Agency, his deputy, as well as the head of the center for pre-departure adaptation and training of citizens traveling to South Korea. The reason was as follows: migrants were deceived, as their permissions to go to Korea for work were not issued. On the same day, the director of the Agency and his deputy were apprehended when receiving a bribe of \$5000. Nevertheless, this vicious practice continues to work [43].

Nowadays, this practice is reflected at the news from press conference with representatives of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and the Agency on the topic **"**Reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan in the field of safe, orderly and legal labour migration,**"** the Ministry**'**s employees complained that 80 ChAZs were issued licenses for employment of citizens wishing to work abroad. However, in 2017–2021, the licenses of 71 ChAZs were **canceled** (of which 59 were at the request of the ChAZs themselves), and criminal cases were instituted against 12 others. At the time of March 2022, only 6 licensed ChAZs were operating in Uzbekistan [44]. That is, these agencies appear swiftly and shortly after die a fast death, carrying no responsibility for the recruited migrants.
