Cotonou, May 17, 2025 — As the hope for a better life drives more and more young Africans to pursue opportunities for international mobility, programs such as “Alabuga Start” in Russia reveal a chilling reality: a structured system of exploitation disguised as opportunity. From Cotonou, Réseau-LEADER is raising the alarm about these new forms of human trafficking and calls for urgent mobilization to protect a youth sacrificed on the altar of toxic partnerships and deceitful promises.

The Network of African Leaders for Democracy, Emergence, and Renewal (Réseau-LEADER) held an awareness workshop this Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Cotonou under the theme: “African Youth and Migration: Between Hopes and New Forms of Risk.” As the migratory paths of African youth become increasingly complex, this workshop served as a warning against the growing dangers hidden within certain international mobility programs—particularly those targeting Russia, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.

The discussions revealed harrowing testimonies, heartbreaking stories, and increasingly structured practices of disguised exploitation. Young African women, sent to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia under the pretense of technological training, now find themselves working on drone assembly lines under militarized conditions, often near conflict zones. Young men, recruited by local intermediaries for allegedly skilled jobs, are placed in agricultural labor camps in Central Asia or the Middle East—without contracts, oversight, or even access to their identity documents.

Far from fully absolving this youth, which is often easily lured by appealing offers, the conference emphasized the critical role played by African leadership in perpetuating this crisis. Mrs. Habiba Issa Bonny Dualla, President of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) and member of Réseau-LEADER, stated that poor governance is one of the key reasons why African youth migration continues to rise—a sentiment echoed by every speaker during the event.

In his closing remarks, the President of Réseau-LEADER strongly condemned what he called “a sophisticated system of exploitation that recycles our hopes into instruments of domination.” Referring to the Russian case, he said:

“The Alabuga Start program, which some still dare to call a career springboard, is nothing more than a modern trap. It turns our daughters into silent labor for wars that are not theirs. It is an industrial prison cloaked in diplomatic attire.”

The final declaration of the workshop, read by Mrs. Habiba Issa Bonny Dualla, resonated as a Pan-African call for clarity and action. She warned:

“Today’s new visas of servitude come dressed as prestigious scholarships or fake apprenticeships. What we’ve heard here is not marginal—it is structural. It is a methodically organized trade in young African bodies.”

She urged African states to suspend cooperation agreements suspected of harboring such practices, to launch thorough investigations into international scholarship programs, and to establish stronger consular protection and oversight mechanisms.

Participants from Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Senegal, and Burkina Faso expressed outrage and a firm commitment to take action. They emphasized the urgent need to intensify and broaden awareness campaigns about the risks behind certain migration programs. These efforts must target people from a young age in schools, but also those on the front lines of migration: students, trainees, and job seekers. NGOs, civil society groups, and other associations must support the state in this effort.

Attendees expressed dismay that some recruitment agencies continue to operate with official licenses despite repeated reports. States must exercise real oversight of these agencies. A proposal was made to create community vigilance networks and citizen alert cells to detect early warning signs of these migration traps.

Réseau-LEADER solemnly calls on African heads of state to break their silence and take responsibility. It urges the media to shatter the wall of indifference, to investigate, and to amplify the voices of victims. It encourages civil society organizations to intensify their awareness efforts among youth and families, who are often misinformed or seduced by enticing narratives.

There is no future for Africa if its youth continues to be the object of a silent and shameful trade.The Cotonou workshop marks the launch of a new front—for alert, advocacy, and mobilization. A Pan-African front. A front for life.