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Caucasus journalists are join their efforts against human traffic

Zahir Amanov

To Iran – to collective oral sex...

Human Trafficikng
«I have been working for others for 3 years...»

By Farman Nabiyev

He wanted to stand up, but couldn’t. He felt heat inside him. His eyes darkened and his heart was thumping away. He felt that his children whose faces he couldn’t see to his heart’s consent stretch out their hands over the fence that they couldn’t climb over, his wife was tearing out her white hair, his deceased father, mother and sister are walking away shaking their heads. A native sound reached his ears through the mixture of sounds: «My dear, please, don’t let us down...»

Senani and his friends were in Tatarstan for three weeks. They have come to Buqulma city situated near Kazan at the request of their friend Fazil. The damaged walls of the former plant producing helicopter spare parts needed repairing and the owner of the object and Fazil reached an agreement saying that the maintenance party would finish the restoration of it until the end of October.

«I used to work at “Dneprepetrovsk Power Plant”, - Senani Bakhsheli oglu Ahmedov tells us. – They didn’t pay the wages timely. We used to borrow foods and pay our debts as soon as we got our salaries. In 1996 our salary payment delayed for 4-5 months, and the owners of the shop were not in the mood to sell their product on credit for that long. I had to quit my job and I came to the market. Here one earned his living daily and this satisfied me partially. I had a small stand and I kept my family through the earnings I made trading at this booth.»

- There were lots of job places in Minghecevir. But the amount of money they pay is very little compared to the job to be done. – The head of the Mingechevir labor inspectorate Qodjaev told in addition having said that. - Most of the entrepreneurs and the heads of enterprises do not establish job places in accordance with the standards, do not pay the wages based on the value of the labor, and violate other requirements of the legislation. As far as taking the relevant measures concerning this illegal actions concerned, they do not allow us into the premises taking the presidential decree on elimination of unsubstantiated inspections as a basis. That is the reason one can not prevent these illegal activities. The street marketing is omnipresent; they don’t even avoid throwing the apparels, foods out in the street.

«As it was dark I was putting the goods into the warehouse. All of a sudden I saw an unfamiliar person standing in front of me. He said his name was Fazil, used to work in “Dneprepetrovsk Power Plant” and now he lived in Russia and made a fortune. After this Fazil came with his brother-in-law, and later with his wife. We talked a lot. He persuaded me that you couldn’t do anything by staying here. He promised to help with getting a job. He said: “I would not do this to others, we have worked together and I am doing it for you because I respect you, but on condition that you will bring some people with you who know how to do construction work. I will call you as soon as I will arrange everything».

- Senani began to look for guys who know the construction work,- a woman-entrepreneur who wants to keep her name in secret shared her opinion with us, - My neighbor Tamara Huseynova who also trades helped me in this. She brought Elkhan and Feyruz to my place saying that they had repaired her house. They agreed. Later on Elbrus who got his diploma in Russia joined them. Though they didn’t know each other well they got ready for the journey. Senani had to sell his wife’s necklace to get a travel fare...

The number of people looking for a comfortable life and ready to sell whatever they have got so far even their own apartment are increasing. The main reason for that is the head of the family can not sustain his family here in the country. The unemployment which is rampant in Azerbaijan for the recent years is also true for Mingechevir. As per the words of the head of Mingechevir Statistic Committee, in January 1, 2004 there were 16613 job places in the city. But according to the head of the employment center Ismayil Mammadov, the number of the working people is 13 thousand in the city with 52430 labor forces: «There are names of 1226 people at the employee list of the textile enterprise which used to have 5000 employees. However, most of them have been sent to the unpaid leave compulsory. This is also true for the large companies manufacturing caoutchouc, glass fibre. Ten thousands of citizens of Minechevir city were obliged to leave their country in search of new job places».

There were Senani, Elkhan, Feyruz and Elbruz among the passengers in the bus going from Baku to Kazan in April 17, 2001. Elbrus was an unemployed man, the rest were leaving their daily workplaces. After three days Fazil met them in Bugulma as his own relatives.

Bugulma city established in XVIII century and located at the place where Bugulma River flows into the Zay River has 300,000 population. It is considered to be one of the industrial cities of Tatarstan. The able-bodied population works mainly in oil production, electrical engineering enterprises, at the plants producing armored concretes and bricks, and at the private constructions. The city has lots of monuments. However, only Senani will be able to get to know the city closely. He will wander in this city someday inch by inch as if he has lost something...

Fazil gave them some pocket-money and said: «You will not be able to get such a job. I’ve concluded a contract. If you want just don’t rent an apartment. Keep the money you are going to pay for the rent. Take one of the rooms at the second floor of the building and live there for a while ».

They did shopping. The next day they started to work early in the morning. Some were carrying stones, some mixing the grout, ad some were plastering. They worked until it became dark. Fazil said that if they would not be able to finish it until the end of October, they would be underpaid. In the evening uncle Kolya used to come who guarded the building and they would go to their own rooms.

-It was 11th of May. They were plastering the front of the building. They have mounted trestle at every floor. I was handing over the mud buckets to Senani and he in his turn was giving them to Feyruz who was standing on the higher floor. A big bathtub was used as a container for the grout. Elkhan was plastering very fast. There was a pile of stones near the place where we were mixing the grout. When Feyruz gave back the empty bucket a trestle slipped under Senani’s foot. He couldn’t keep his balance and fell down from the second floor on the stones and mud. As soon as Elkhan saw that he told me and Feyruz: “Guy, let’s get out here, or they will arrest us...». But I hugged Senani and burst out sobbing saying that please, don’t let us down...» at this moment uncle Kolya’s car turned up,-That is how Elbrus remembers those days.

«As I didn’t have a registration they didn’t want me to place at the hospital. Uncle Kolya said that he knew me. Later I found out that he used to work at the police department and having retired he began to work as a guard. After the examination they sent me to the surgery room. I had two limbs broken and had my pelvis filled with blood. The treatment lasted for two months. The doctors were merciful: they didn’t ask me for money. The inspector who came from the police department interrogated me. I said that I had not been beaten, just felt from the second flow».

The officials from Mingechevir police department told us those leaving the city very rarely got unregistered – approximately 5-10 people monthly. While leaving the country men under 50 years old should get unregistered from the military registration, which is not allowed in most of the cases. Most of the people prefer to live in Russia without a registration, as a result of which they cause problems to themselves. Businessmen benefit from such conditions. They menace their “victims” saying that if they apply to the police they would end up in jail for not having an official registration.
«Having left the hospital I returned to my friends. They said that they could not come to agreement with Fazil, as he had underpaid them. That was why they were going to leave the work uncompleted. I understood that my friends were paid little amount of money and I didn’t hope to get money from them. But Fazil was not in mood to give me my money. When I asked him for my money that he owes for those twenty days I had worked before I got to hospital he said: «You have not brought the right people». Besides, they made me leave the room because the work at the building had stopped.
I couldn’t do hard work because of my health conditions, and it was difficult to get an easy one. I was looking for a job in the mornings, and at the evenings I used to come to the construction places where other Azerbaijanis worked and slept there on the concrete slabs. The summer was coming.

I lived hungry and poor for couple of months. I was living on bread crumbs. I went to Fazil’s house (When we first came to his house he invited all of us and said that we could take a shower at his home as the bath-house was far away). I begged him to give the money he owed me, so that I could go back. He slammed the door for the last time saying that he didn’t owe me anything. At least I managed to gather money with the help of my compatriots from Ganja and returned to Mingechevir in the middle of October.»

-In 1996 our Republic joined the UN Convention on «Elimination of slavery», «Struggle against the human trafficking and exploitation of prostitution by the third person», and in May, 2003 «Struggle against the transnational organized crimes» and their protocols. – The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Oruc Zalov told at the meeting with the journalists. – At present we are working on the project of the National Action Plan concerning the struggle against the human trafficking. However, there is not such a concept at the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic. The comprehensive measures such as improvement of a normative legal basis for the struggle with the human trafficking, court persecution of criminal organizations, establishment of a system for the protection of the victims thereof should be taken.

At Mingechevir city prosecutor’s office they told to our journalist that, people hide the fact that they are exploited by the third persons: «So far we have not received any appeal regarding this issue. When human hunters see that no one lodges a complaint and they remain unpunished, they become more aggressive. If the public remains passive, we will not be able to get any results. If a person who has become a victim of another one, tolerates to become the victim for the second and third time, what we can do in this situation?»
Senani now works at one of the warehouses located at the central market of the city. He receives the commodity and distributes it to the local objects, and also sells goods in cash. The working day starts from 7 AM and ends at 9 PM. There are no holidays and days off for him. His life is not insured against the incidents. And on the top of this he earns only 50$ per month.

«I have been working for others for three years. I have nothing. I can’t do a hard work, because my health conditions don’t allow me to do it. My family has neither house, nor any other accommodation. I don’t have the right to get sick. Like in Russia no one will pay for the days I am going to spend at the hospital...»

As per the words of Jalil Hatamov, the head of Social Protection Fund of Mingechevir city persons not registered anywhere, and those not paying taxes and social security taxes do not get paid for the period they have worked when they are ill, get injured or retired: «Last year two citizens of Mingechevir who came from abroad produced a certificate and paid their social security taxes. However, though we don’t have an exact number of people working in Russia or other countries, we know they are not two but thousands».

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The number of happy people going to work in the mornings and coming back in the evenings is decreasing. Those looking for jobs abroad don’t believe that the former manufacturing enterprises will be opened and new ones will be established. Those who feel lonely, without kith or kin at the country where they were born and brought up are in search of native people in the foreign countries.

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Senani wanted to stand up, but couldn’t. He felt heat inside him. His eyes darkened and his heart was thumping away. He felt that her children whose faces he couldn’t see to his heart’s consent stretch out their hands over the fence that they couldn’t climb over, his wife was tearing out her white hair, his deceased father, mother and sister are walking away shaking their heads. A native sound reached his ears through the mixture of sounds: «My dear, please, don’t let us down...»

(Published on the issue dated 06.04.2004 of the «Mingechevir light» newspaper)