I have higher education and worked as a teacher on labour issues. I’m married, with no children. I lived well but had no home of my own. Recently I hadn’t worked using my education, I did some decoration work. I had difficulties getting work and had few contracts. Because I wanted my own home, I came to Russia in 2002, together with my wife. She is diabetic. I plan to spend two more years here. I came to the North Caucasus region, as some relatives live here. With the help of an intermediary at a cost of 5’000 Roubles I found work. I agreed to work for an employer for three years. If I change the place of work, I will lose 50 per cent of my earnings, which is being kept by the employer until the end of the contract. But this clause was not agreed upon before. My documents have not been withdrawn. I earn about 4’000 [Roubles]. Another 4’000 is kept by the employer as a guarantee that the contract will not be violated. I receive money in cash, which isn’t registered and is sometimes delayed. The work is unhealthy (my eyes become inflamed from the ceiling dust), we work without individual [social] protection, as it would be an additional expense. Sick periods are not paid, so I go to work while ill. At any moment I might be called to work. My employer is an Armenian. Our relations are not very good. I am anxious about the 50 per cent that the employer is keeping, they might not give me money back at the end of my contract.
*name given
Narrative credit to International Labour Organization
Original narrative found in report ‘Forced Labour in the Russian Federation Today: Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Human Beings’
