Instead of earnings - one destruction: Uzbek migrants live in poverty in Rostov

As you know, on March 23, during the quarantine caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Uzbekistan closed the border with Russia, and the Uzbek authorities took out their citizens who worked in our country on charter flights.

The border has not yet been opened, but thousands of Uzbek citizens began to gather at railway stations in the Rostov, Samara and Orenburg regions of Russia, from which they were promised to be sent home by train. There are so many people that even two trains with a capacity of 920 people could not take out even a small part of them. In anticipation of departure, spontaneous tent camps were formed near the stations. BBC journalists talk about what is happening at the Pervomayskaya station of the Rostov region, around which more than three thousand migrants have accumulated who worked in local agricultural farms.

All of them arrived in advance to register with the consular register, because without this procedure it is impossible to leave, but they had to wait for flights for a very long time. If earlier, after the end of work, they could leave Russia at any time by renting a car, now the situation is such that people live in completely unsuitable conditions for weeks, and they have to spend everything they earned during the season on food and other expenses.

Many live in tents with their whole families, eat dry food, there is no shower or toilets. People crowd at the station entrance, waiting to be allowed to buy tickets. Moreover, everything happens as in Soviet times - lists are drawn up, which are then constantly checked by employees of the consulate. And all around were cordoned off by fighters of the local OMON.

It comes to the point that they give birth right here, literally in an open field. So one girl gave birth to twins in a tent - she was not taken to the hospital due to the lack of registration. Those who are "lucky" to get sick get sick without medical help.

One of the camp residents is rightly indignant when talking about his friend:

“He is sick, he has some kind of infection. We must treat him. In Volgograd he was told: "No registration." Here I myself took him by taxi to the clinic and found his phone on the Internet. The manager says: "You're not a local, don't be here." I shouted: "The war was in 1941! Children were sent from here to Uzbekistan, we received you! But they don't help us. We were all in the Union, it was good!"

Helping poor fellows has recently begun. If earlier only compatriots brought food and water, then three days ago, on the instructions of the regional governor, they set up spacious frame tents, started supplying them with technical and drinking water, and organized firefighters and ambulances on duty.

The local authorities explain the belated measures by the fact that no one had coordinated the appearance of this camp with them. In addition, the authorities have appointed a new departure station, where migrants will be transported by electric trains, and there they will be created more acceptable conditions for waiting for trains. True, the situation is complicated by the fact that, as usual, many middlemen have appeared around the poor fellows who resell tickets to Tashkent instead of the usual 12,800 rubles at 20, 25 and even 30 thousand rubles. This information is confirmed by the Consulate of Uzbekistan. They say that two such dealers have already been caught and now face up to 15 years in prison.