Alabuga programme accused of labour exploitation

A new report has accused Russia’s Alabuga skilling programme of recruiting young African women between the ages of 18 and 22 to work in its factories that are making products for the war effort in Ukraine.

“Both the polytechnic and start programmes are exploitative of young people and require students and recruits to work long hours, often more than full time. More than 90% of the start programme personnel and about one-third of the polytechnic students are estimated to work in drone production, mostly Shahed 136 drones,” the report stated.

The report was released by the Institute of Science and International Security, a non-government organization based in Washington DC.

The report states that the female workers, including about 16 Ugandans, were promised a pay of $700 (sh2.5m) to work in the factories that are located Russia’s Tartastan area which has since become a target of Ukraine and its allies.

Although Uganda’s embassy in Moscow told New Vision that the beneficiaries are safe and sound, the Russian media reported an air strike on a hostel housing the young workers on April 2 this year, injuring an undisclosed number of people.

After the attack, the Alabuga programme online team posted videos of beneficiaries condemning Ukraine for what they described as a ‘cowardly’ attack on their hostel.

In one of the videos posted on the Alabuga programme handle, Othieno Mackline, a beneficiary from Kenya said: “ I came to study at the Alabuga Polytechnic in the field of service and hospitality. Those who attacked our hostel today are real barbarians and they deserve serious condemnation. They want to intimidate us but they will not succeed. You won’t scare me because Alabuga is a strong place.”

The report also states that the girls work for long hours, are under constant surveillance, are exposed to chemicals and earn less money than what they were promised.

A Ugandan beneficiary who is currently in Russia also told New Vision that what they were promised is not what they are getting.

“The working hours are longer and the payment is not the $700 (sh2.5m) that we were promised. We sleep in hostels and are constantly monitored. Besides, the $700 (sh2.5m) that we were promised is subject to a lot of deductions, including accommodation, bus fare and taxes. Many of my colleagues found it difficult adjusting to the Russian work ethic and the long work hours,” one of the beneficiaries stated in a message sent to New Vision.

In March this year, Western region Youth MP Edward Rugumayo flew to Russia to check on the beneficiaries.

In an interview with New Vision, Rugumayo said his trip to the factory was to let him have a feel of what was happening in the Alabuga programme.

“While there, I met a number of African students, especially East Africans from Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda. These mostly apply through the Alabuga start programme website and when they are selected, they study Russian language and when they complete, they are given Russian jobs. It is a way for Russia to open up to the world. They work in the factories, do catering, plumbing, electrical work etc as they earn a stipend. But of course, the work ethic of Russia is different from that of Uganda. Your output is what attracts the pay. The more hours you work, the more you get. What I learnt from there is that they earn 60,000 Rubbles which is equivalent to sh4m when your output is good,” he said.

The youth MP said he, however, heard rumours that the young people were being recruited to work in the plants that manufacture the Shahed drones.

 “When I was there I saw them working on tractor assembling and pipelines. I did not see any military plant. I cannot confirm or know that they were manufacturing military equipment. I think it is a tabloid report from the Western-Eastern information war. At first, Russia was interested in taking so many people but because the project coincided with war, we were careful that the project was halted until the situation normalised. There was even a drone attack by Ukraine on the region,” he said.

The Youth MP revealed that out of over 500 applicants, only 60 students went.

“We asked that they stop until the situation normalizes, then the project can continue. We told the minister that let us be careful so that we do not find ourselves having to bring back the students when the war escalates,” he said.

When contacted, Russia’s Ambassador to Uganda, Vladlen Semivolos, said it was not necessary to focus on one insignificant aspect of Russia’s flourishing co-operation with Uganda as there were more positive broader areas to focus on.

“There is need to present the broader perspective of the co-operation with Uganda,” he said.

While flagging off 50 Ugandan students who secured scholarships to study in Russia on September 11, 2023, Semivolos said his country had doubled scholarship offers to Ugandan students.

“In recent years, we have been steadily increasing the number of Russian scholarships allocated to Ugandan high school graduates. This number doubled this year and the number now stands at 50,’ he said. Semivolos also announced that his country had also offered 218 vocational studies scholarships through the Alabuga programme.

“Starting next year, this project is supposed to include males as well,” he said.

However, Rugumayo said they agreed with the labour ministry to go slow on the programme because it had coincided with the war in Ukraine.