Why men from Punjab are drawn to Russia and how agents ‘help’ them migrate

This has come even though there have been many YouTube videos advising Indians and Pakistanis not to go to Belarus from Russia to enter Europe as arrests on this route have increased recently. In other videos, they are advised not to fall for the trap of work visas in Russia.

Why Russia?

Unemployed youth from India and Pakistan allegedly use the Russian route to enter Europe illegally as countries are accessible through a land route if one gets into Russia. Once they enter these European countries via Russia, immigrants apply for asylum.

Until now, Russia, which has a strict immigration policy and doesn’t allow Indians to stay longer on tourist visas, didn’t offer possibilities for job seekers. Russian immigration authorities are said to give a tough time to anyone visiting the country on a tourist visa for the first time from India.

How do agents operate?

There are many tutorial videos on YouTube for Indians about how to clear Russian immigration and this brings the agents into play. These agents use their connections to help tourists easily clear immigration, and then take them to different European borders.

An agent based in Mirpur of Gurdaspur’s Mirpur told The Indian Express, “Those who cannot afford to go to the US due to high costs can go to Europe via Russia and Belarus. Agents manage tourist visas and clearance at Russian immigration. Nowadays, there are also good work opportunities in Russia due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. So, the influx of youth from Punjab to Russia has increased.”

However, a Russian visa is not applicable in Belarus, which is a country friendly to Russia. Belarus is used to cross the border into Poland.

A now-viral video on X shows Gagandeep Singh from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur describing his ordeal after they went to Belarus from Russia. In the video, Singh claims they went to Russia to celebrate New Year on December 27 on a 90-day visa. After an agent offered to take them to Belarus, they went to the country without visas because they did not know they needed a visa there.

He says they were caught by the police and handed over to Russian officials, who made them sign some documents, and now they are being forced to fight against Ukraine after being given 15 days of military training.

Amrit Singh, the brother of another man Gurpreet Singh stuck in Russia, said Gurpreet and other ‘tourists’ had a plan to enter Europe via Belarus. However, the arrest changed the equation.

Many agents offer “easy visas” to men in Punjab. Despite the reports of Punjabi men stuck in the Russian army, Gurdaspur police had no information about them and the agents involved in sending them to Russia.

Work visa scam

Agents have allegedly been luring unemployed men from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh for work visas in Russia for security jobs for a salary of Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh, who are then deployed on the border with Ukraine.

However, these security jobs are not listed with the Russian army.

“The people are aware of the risk in such jobs. In some cases, youth may panic after they reach the war zone and start complaining,” said an agent.

However, an intelligence official in Gurdaspur said these agents are “not aware of what exactly the job is”. “They show the offer letters to the men in English. Whereas the Russian government never offers any job in an offer letter written in English. Agents only know how to make money. Those who want to go to Europe are ready to take the risk.”