On her first day of work, Adau realised she had made a big mistake.
We got our uniforms, not even knowing exactly what we were going to do. From the first day of work, we were taken to the drones factory. We stepped in and we saw drones everywhere and people working. Then they took us to our different work stations.
Twenty-three-years-old and originally from South Sudan, Adau says last year she was lured to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia, on the promise of a full-time job.
She had applied to the Alabuga Start programme, a recruitment scheme targeting 18-to-22-year-old women, mostly from Africa but also increasingly from Latin America and South-East Asia. It promises participants professional training in logistics, catering and hospitality.
However, the programme has been accused of using deception in its recruitment practices, making young recruits work in dangerous conditions for less pay than advertised. While the program denies these allegations, it does not deny that some employees were involved in building drones.
The Alabuga Start programme gained notoriety when South African influencers promoting it were accused of facilitating human trafficking. With an estimate of over 1,000 women recruited from Africa to work in weapons factories in Alabuga, the South African government has since launched an investigation and cautioned its citizens against signing up.
Adau, who requested anonymity to avoid association with the programme, learned about the opportunity through a Facebook post shared by a friend.
My friend posted about a scholarship in Russia on their Facebook status. The advert was by the South Sudanese Ministry of Higher Education, she recalls. She filled out a form expressing interest in various fields, with aspirations to become a tower-crane operator.
Finally, in March last year, she arrived in Russia, where initial impressions of the Alabuga Special Zone soon gave way to a sobering reality when she found herself assigned to the drone factory.
Despite initial language training, the lack of choice in her assigned work role and the restrictions imposed by non-disclosure agreements left Adau feeling trapped. When she tried to leave, the conditions and environment became intolerable, culminating in her working with harmful chemicals that caused skin burns.
The situation worsened when a Ukrainian drone strike targeted the Alabuga zone, highlighting the dangers of her job. Adau was left reeling, confronted with the knowledge that she was part of Russia's drone manufacturing efforts amid an active conflict.
This gripping narrative reveals the complexities and ethical dilemmas in global labor recruitment, shedding light on the intricate web of deception that often ensnares vulnerable individuals in search of better opportunities.
