«Rabat» № 32, August 10,  2011

Young, uneducated, with big financial problems - such is a perfect victim of human trafficking in the world. Unfortunately there are a lot of such victims in our region. The Legal Center for Women’s Initiatives “Sana Sezim” is engaged in the facts of the mass recruitment of young citizens of the South Kazakhstan. Details of the nightmarish life of a former cashier of the Moscow store-in the story one of the deceived girls who miraculously managed to escape.   
«Good aunt » Mamura
Four years ago sisters Farida and Asia (names are changed) were left orphans. Their mother died in 1997 and father in 2006, girls were 17-18 years old. They were frequently visited by the neighbors in the dorm room, which reminded after their parents. They were helped by the advices, foods and money. However money was not enough, especially older Farida continued to study at one of the colleges of Shymkent. Then the girls were visited by one more neighbor whose name was Mamura.  She offered a job in Moscow: elder girl to be a casher in the store of her brother and younger to be a baby-sitter. She promised high salary, for which with the lapse of time they can buy an apartment, a car, to pay for education. On the next day Farida left for the Moscow. Minor sister was brought to the capital after a week. Since that time, the girls started absolutely another life, unfortunately different from the one which “good aunt” Mamura promised them.     
In Moscow captivity…
In the store “GrandNord- product”, to where sisters were brought, there were 10 people, almost all of them were from the South of Kazakhstan. They lived in two warehouses, slept on the floor without pillows, were fed by the expired products. Besides, the owners forced them to drink alcohol.  Those who refused were brutally beaten by the other employees. These were methods of “education”. Besides, they “toiled” from 6 am till 2 am.
-When the store was visited with the inspections, we were hidden in a warehouse. In the store reminded only those who had a Russian passport,-remembers Farida.
The fact that the owner had good relations with law-enforcement authorities, she convinced herself. Once, Farida managed to escape. It was the winter of 2008. The girl ran into a barber shop near the store, one of the employees helped her to drive to the nearest police station. There she wrote an application and after a couple of hours the owner of the store came to take her back. For her return he paid the cops $ 1000. On that day, Farida was severely beaten...
Sometimes owners arranged parties in which girls were forced to get drunk. At one of these drinking parties Farida had sexual contact with another owner. At the beginning of November she gave birth to a son. After three months the girl was forced to sign some papers. It was permission to removal of child to Shymkent. For the attempted refuse- again she was beaten. The baby was taken away. At the beginning of June, during the regular drinking of owners, Farida again managed to escape. At this time she was noticed by the customers of the shop, visitors from Kyrgyzstan, who helped her.  They gave her money (for three years Farida never received salary), and put her in the train. In Shymkent the girl with her neighbor wrote an application to the police department. After several days three strangers came to her dorm. They threatened to kill the neighbor, Farida and her child. However the child was returned by the daughter of Mamura. By this time, the desperate girl was advised to turn to the legal center for Women’s Initiatives “Sana-Sezim”.  
Was there a “captive”?
-Farida turned to us for the help in May last year-says the supervisor of this case, social worker of the center Raushan Khudaishukurova.   She was frightened, confused. The child was in painful state, at his seven month he didn’t hold his head, was developed rickets. Thanks to our doctors they treated the child. We helped girl to rent an apartment and continue studying. We began hardly work at the returning of her sister. But it seemed that it was not so easy. According to application of Farida to the Enbekshy Police Department, was prosecuted criminal case. However, after a couple of weeks the criminal case was closed… for the lack of evidences. It is difficult to say, who “worked” over this decision. May be everything has changed the testimony of one of the Moscow “hostage” who suddenly appeared in Shymkent and claimed that no one forced them and did not beat. “Thus, all the girl’s body was bruised-says Raushan-and the fact that she is intimidated, it is seen in her eyes.   

Anyway, the case re-opened. The story repeated in Moscow. In prosecuting a criminal case at first was denied. Now the investigation is under the check. This investigation has been lasting  already for one year. In this case, the law enforcement authorities know the name of the criminals, the address and the name of the store, where until now, is kept the sister of Farida. Mamura calmly walks, perhaps looking for new young victims. We can only guess the reason of slowness of representatives of government agencies of both countries. The staff of “Sana Sezim” plan to turn to Moscow colleagues – NGOs. Because, in this case the time is against the hostages. In particular, it is against Asia

O. Sivtsova