Belarus began to recruit workers from Uzbekistan to work on the farm. The first group of 200 citizens of this country landed in Vitebsk on Tuesday. erstwhile agreements concluded at state level are behind the project, and the government of Alaksandra Lukashenko is thus trying to address the deficiency of hands to work.
200 visitors at the start
According to Kresy.pl portal, the Vitebsk region established cooperation with the Andijan Wilajet in Uzbekistan and began bringing its inhabitants to work on farms. The first 200 visitors arrived on Tuesday. The full group, dressed in uniform, flew to Vitebsk by plane of Uzbek airlines. On the album of the airport they were greeted by a women's music band. According to the report, the work is to concern not only agriculture but besides construction.
A government That Needs Hands
Bringing workers from Central Asia is simply a signal of the condition of the Belarusian economy. The country has been losing people for years, and after a wave of repression from 2020 and in the shadow of the war economy of the region, the outflow of workers only deepened. Uzbekistan is, in turn, 1 of the largest exporters of labour in this part of the world, to date mainly directed to Russia. The agreements with Minsk open up another marketplace for Tashkent and for Lukashenko are a way to fill fields and buildings.
Neighbour of Poland and its migrations
This is happening just outside the east border of the Union, with an ally of Russia. Belarus has had a different migration chapter, due to the fact that since 2021 it has been pushing visitors from the mediate East and Africa to the border with Poland and Lithuania, which Polish and EU services treat as part of the hybrid war. Legal import of workers from Uzbekistan is simply a phenomenon distinct from that pressure. However, 1 thing unites them: Minsk controls the movement of people, erstwhile as a tool of pressure, erstwhile as a patch for his own shortages.
Weakness dressed in welcome
The orchestra on the plate of the airport and the uniforms form an image of propaganda success. Underneath, however, there is simply a dependence. A country that has to go after workers across the continent admits that it lacks its own hands. For an observer from outside the Polish border, it is further proof that the government in Minsk is weaker than it wants to show.
