…as the Malawi Human Rights Commission blames secrecy
The Human Rights Consultative Committee-HRCC—the mother body of rights organisations—has written to the Malawi Government to commission investigations and engage the United Nations-UN to establish the truth about two girls allegedly trapped in a drone-making factory in Russia.
The two girls—whose details are sketchy—are reportedly working in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), said to be part of a wider exploitation of foreigners from developing countries.
The growing calls come as Bloomberg has reported that Interpol in Botswana has begun investigating Alabuga Start, billed in Africa as a work-study program in Russia for “ambitious young women” but linked to the production of military drones, for possible involvement with human trafficking.
The publication further indicates that since 2022, Alabuga Start has recruited around 350 women from over 40 countries to work in Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan and aims to bring 8,500 more this year, according to the article.
Research shows that Alabuga Special Economic Zone is an industrial complex dedicated to mechanical engineering and the production of Shahed kamikaze drones and their Russian Geran copies, which Russia routinely uses in its attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
The Russian Investigative Outlet Protokol reported in 2024 that the two are among the 182 women from Africa and Asia working in an enemy drone factory in Alabuga.
The number of young girls recruited included those from Botswana and Lesotho. Uganda (46), Kenya (14), Nigeria (14), South Sudan (14), Rwanda (14), Sri Lanka (10), Zambia (4), Ethiopia (6), Ghana (2), Malawi (2), Mozambique (1), South Africa (6), Tanzania (4), and Zimbabwe (4).
Last year, social media posts on the Alabuga Start Programme showed pictures of successful applicants from African countries, including Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, who signed up for the programme that promised work and training in various fields.
In an interview this week, HRCC chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba underscored the need for Malawi authorities to expedite engagements with relevant UN agencies and Interpol to locate and have particulars of such Malawian youths for a speedy repatriation.
He is of the view that the government, under international treaties, is obliged to get any required information about the girls and also verify such educational opportunities if ever they are true.
“As HRCC we have not hidden calls that every time one wants to travel abroad, there is need to talk to relevant institutions in country and abroad because if these girls or parents in their own right, made the applications online to advance education and they ended up in Russia, it would have been easier if they had shared information,” says Mkwezalamba.
Mkwezalamba adds that girls and boys should consult because Malawi has entities such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Malawi Police Service has the right to ensure that they check the authenticity of some of these institutions.
Labour and security experts say that with Russia facing a labour shortage, the country is trying to stuff its factories with outreach efforts in some African countries, denying that the workers are going to work in military production.
But Mkwezalamba says HRCC further wants the Malawi Government to issue an international call to other countries not to exploit young girls and boys at the expense of their right to education or free employment without any conditions of abuse and harassment.
“Let’s not prey on these young girls and boys who are desperate for opportunities elsewhere only to land themselves in problems,” says Mkwezalamba.
Africa lost two young men—Lemekani Nyirenda of Zambia and Nemes Tarimo of Tanzania—who were studying in Russia but found themselves at the battlefront fighting in Ukraine to secure their freedom after they were arrested and jailed for alleged criminal offences.
Nyirenda and Tarimo were promised freedom from their prison terms if they successfully fought the war in Ukraine on behalf of Russia following their recruitment from prison by the leader of the mercenary group Wagner, now called the Africa Corps.
This far, feeling alarmed, the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), which is a government-funded entity, has sounded a call to concerned families who suspect that their children are trapped in the drone-making factory to provide particulars for them to expedite investigations.
A senior MHRC official, Lucius Pendame, claimed that some Malawian youths get trapped in such circumstances because they do not verify with the government the authenticity of scholarships.
“We don’t act on hearsay, but rather on facts. If there is anyone whose children are trapped there, let them come forward so we can investigate. We must ensure that human rights are not abused in learning institutions and workplaces for our citizens,” he says.
MHRC has so far investigated reports of human trafficking and abuse of Malawian workers in Middle Eastern countries like Oman and Kuwait. Some of them, mainly from Oman, have since been repatriated following lengthy negotiations between the two governments.
“Those who went to work as domestic workers in Oman were subjected to various abuses, and upon learning of this, the government zeroed in to help. The same can happen to these girls only if they come out,” says Pendame.
Malawi’s Foreign Affairs ministry claims no knowledge of the matter, demanding full details of the two girls first. While the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, Kiev last year shipped 14,500 tonnes of corn to Malawi to help victims of El-Nino induced weather.
In 2023, the Russian government also donated 20,000 tons of fertiliser to Malawi as part of its efforts to garner diplomatic support from various African nations.
Random interviews with the current crop of parliamentarians pointed to the fact that Malawi has diplomatic relations with both Ukraine and Russia, something that puts the government in a tight situation to comment on international matters only if proven to be true.
With Parliament to be dissolved in July and no chances of meeting again, some analysts have said it would have been ideal if parliamentarians quizzed the relevant ministries of homeland security and foreign affairs on what they know about the young girls being trapped there.
Parliament is to be dissolved to pave the way for general elections on 16 September 2025.
Legally, it may be convened if there is a pressing matter to address.
Mwezalamba: Malawi authorities should engage Russia and Ukraine.
