Unemployed, in debt and struggling to provide for her son and sick mother in Ukraine, Iryna went online to hunt for a job.
She quickly found an advert that seemed perfect: Building renovator wanted, in neighboring Belarus; US$1,000 a month, eight-hour working days, paid holidays and accommodation included.
“I thought it was the solution of all my problems,” the 49-year-old, an interior designer by training, told reporters by telephone.
She was wrong.
In Belarus, Iryna — who declined to give her real name — became a victim of modern slavery, one of an estimated 25 million people trapped in forced labor globally.
Ukraine is one of Europe’s trafficking hotspots, with 61,000 people trafficked since 2014 — mostly while looking for better job opportunities abroad, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Most victims are taken to Russia, Poland and other European countries, where they are forced to work in factories, building sites, farms and as beggars or sex workers, the organization said.
When Iryna arrived in Belarus in 2014 with a group of 15 Ukrainians, their passports were confiscated and they were paid US$200 in the first three months — barely enough to afford food.
“We didn’t even know where we were,” she said, recalling how they were moved to various construction sites in remote areas.
Threatened at gunpoint, the group worked up to 18 hours a day renovating a two-story house over several months. They slept on the floor and were fed only ready-made boiled noodles.
Those who complained were beaten, said Iryna, who fell ill.
“I had problems with my stomach and a high temperature, but no one would bring me medicines,” she said.
When her captors realized she could not keep working, they returned her passport and abandoned her in the capital, Minsk.
She spent the summer doing casual jobs until she made enough money to buy a train ticket home in 2015 to Vinnytsia.
She was financially and spiritually broken, her mother having died of cancer while she was enslaved in Belarus.
“I had a terrible depression because I couldn’t save my mum,” she said, choking back tears as she recalled her return.
Yet two years on, Irnya has turned her life around.
An organization project to help former slaves reintegrate into society, by providing them with training and money to start a business, helped her to set up a small embroidery workshop and earn enough to feed her family.
Iryna received US$800 last year, which she spent on a sewing machine. She produces towels, tablecloths and other items that she sells online and at local fairs.
“I am happy,” she said. “I don’t have to think about getting money to buy bread.”
The trafficking business is thriving in Ukraine.
The organization identified 639 victims in the first six months of this year, 30 percent up on the same period last year.
Economic crisis and political upheaval linked to the conflict in eastern Ukraine have fueled the crime, the organization said.
Igor, another Ukrainain survivor, was beaten up, fed rotten food and forced to handle chemical barrels without safety equipment after being lured to Russia with the promise of a well-paid job four years ago.
Chemical leaks burned his hands and left them itching.
“Basically it was eating my skin,” the 37-year-old said by telephone, declining to give his real name.
He was freed after about six months as his health worsened.
Igor is happy to be in Ukraine, having started a furniture company with three fellow victims he met through the project, which teaches groups of up to 30 people skills to run a small company, such as management, accounting and marketing.
Since it started in 2006, almost 1,000 slavery survivors have started businesses, from pig farms and beauty salons to coffee shops and cucumber greenhouses.
“The idea ... is to help people monetize their skills,” said Ali Chabuk, a senior livelihood specialist at IOM Ukraine.
Owning a business also helps victims’ psychological recovery, he added.
“They see themselves as something valuable, as key participants to the local economic development,” Chabuk said.
Former slaves, such as Iryna and Igor, share their stories at events organized by IOM’s partner charities in Ukraine to raise awareness about how migration can lead to slavery.
“There’s a lot of people that are trying to find themselves somewhere else, in random countries without understanding that it’s possible to do something here,” Igor said. “My life has really settled down. It has taken on a different meaning and different colors.”
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