Lukashenko’s Uzbek labor migration plan hits trouble as workers seek to leave

Uzbek labor migrants who arrived in Belarus on July 13 want to return home. This is stated in their appeal published today on social media.

The video was apparently recorded in Vitebsk. It shows a large group of men addressing the head of the Andijan region and complaining about conditions in Belarus. According to them, employers stated that workers' wages would be around 500 dollars per month, while food and accommodation would have to be paid for independently.

"He said: if there is work for more than 500 dollars, then go ahead, I won't give more money. The wage is 500 dollars, food is at your own expense, housing you pay yourself," the migrants list. They claim that nobody agreed to such conditions.

One of the participants in the recording says that after paying basic expenses, almost nothing will be left from the wages: "About 200 dollars will go on food, another 100 or so on soap, washing and other household needs. So there is no point in working here for 200 dollars, wasting time and suffering."

The author of the appeal asks the regional head for help: "If that's the case, you'd better send us back to Uzbekistan." Another participant adds that they can earn more back home.

There have been no official comments from the Uzbek authorities so far.

Uzbek migrants were invited to work in Belarus by Alexander Lukashenko after an attempt to bring labor migrants from Pakistan failed. The first group of workers from Uzbekistan arrived in Belarus on July 13, numbering 255 people. It was reported that they would work on farms in the Vitebsk region.