”They are still staying in Dagestan. As far as I know, after the intervention of police and volunteers, at least a part of money earned was paid to them. They are leaving for Belarus one of these days,” Siarhei Kouhan, leader of Belarusian search-and-rescue detachment “Aniol” (Angel), told Belsat TV.
As a result of a joint raid of Dagestan policemen and activists of Russian youth group Alternativa at a brick plant not far from Makhachkala 9 persons were released, Alternativa’s web site reports.
Two Belarusian-born brothers used to come to Moscow as guest workers. After losing their jobs they had to spend some days at the railway station, homeless and penniless. Being totally at sea, they accepted the strangers’ job offer and went to Dagestan…
But their employer turned out to be far from a model of honesty: the four Belarusians and five other people received no wages for seven months. They could not not leave the plant because they had no money, could not phone their families and furthermore, their managers terrified them with the stories about fighting in the area and people captured by local militants, Oleg Melnikov, leader of Alternativa, told news agency BelaPAN.
“I came to the brick plant under the pretext that I needed to buy something and asked the workers whether they would like to go home,” Mr. Melnikov said. “They said that they would love to go back but did not have any money for the trip. Now these people are free, and we’ll help them get to Moscow. Their families already know their whereabouts and ready to pay for their flight from Moscow to Minsk.”
