cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/41936214
Late last year, the world was alerted to the disturbing news that Russia was recruiting hundreds of young African women, aged 18–22, to manufacture drones in a military-industrial compound 1,000 km east of Moscow, called the Alabuga Special Economic Zone. The reports also stated that the recruits—from at least fifteen African countries—were promised good salaries and skills training, but once there, they were often trapped, facing tax deductions, dangerous working conditions, strict surveillance, and difficulties returning home.
In the past six months, a team from [journalists] in seven African countries investigated the Russian recruitment exercise, asking why so many young Africans take the chance to go, sometimes even after being warned.
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Among the shocking findings of this transnational investigation, launched today, is the involvement of high-ranking government officials in six of the seven countries—and the tacit approval in all seven—in sending their countries’ young women abroad. In Cameroon, a ruling party VIP and member of the Cameroon-Russia Business Council has actively taken 13 recruits to Alabuga and reportedly plans to supply Russia with “a hundred more this year.” A Kenyan and a Nigerian ambassador have been promoting the initiative on-site in Moscow and at Alabuga itself. In Rwanda, “orders from above” have allowed female students to travel to Russia “for vague purposes.”
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A major tool for recruitment is a barrage of slick propaganda on Telegram, Facebook, and other social media channels, ranging from purported testimonials by enthusiastic participants, sometimes in school uniforms (there are no accounts of girls actually attending school in Alabuga), to orchestrated talks and interviews on YouTube. Positive “testimonials” have also been distributed through widely read news media in African countries, some of which have published them uncritically. A warning posted by a prospective recruit, who had shared international reports about drone manufacturing at Alabuga on the dedicated registration Telegram channel in Nigeria, was immediately removed.
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Late in August, a Bloomberg investigation in South Africa revealed that the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance in that country—which says it operates under the mandate of the national Women’s Ministry—had signed an agreement to supply Russia with 5,600 workers next year, including to Alabuga. In a comment, the Women’s Ministry denied being “formally linked” to the recruiting organisation but said it “was aware” of it. The BRICS Student Alliance in the same country has also advertised Alabuga jobs, together with some high-profile influencers. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said it was investigating but added that the “South African government is yet to find credible evidence that job offers in Russia are inconsistent with their stated purpose.”
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