President of the Ghana-Russia Business Development Council (GRBDC), Dr Awutu Boateng, is calling on the government to initiate moves to rescue some Ghanaian nationals in Russia.
Dr Boateng, in an interview on Accra-based Peace FM, disclosed how some Ghanaians, particularly men, are suffering at the hands of these Eastern Europeans.
The sad aspect of the situation, he asserts, is that these Ghanaian victims cannot return home due to legal consequences or fear of a jail sentence.
Dr Boateng recounted how the men get to Russia believing their hook up with a Russian lady on the internet will lead to marriage, only to realise that they are about to be turned into sex objects.
The GRBDC President further revealed that upon reaching Russia, these Ghanaians are confined and locked up in a room without opportunity to go out or live a better life.
“Most of the men take these ladies as their girlfriends on websites so they send them invitations . . . so when they’re lured into the country they have no papers so can’t do any work. They are locked in rooms and they use them very well, they can be forced to sleep with more than three women a day . . . it’s very pathetic . . .” he stated.
He added that in most cases they don’t only sleep with the women who invited them but also service their friends sexually against their will.
“They don’t heed to advise when they’re coming for the Russian visa . . . that is what they are going through, some of them over there,” he said.
He disclosed that some footballers are also victims.
“Some agents mostly recruit footballers into the country for trials but after they are disqualified the players refuse to return and after the expiration of their visas it becomes a problem.
“They are there in the Russian villages where you’ll have to travel by air for about nine to 10 hours, if by train you’ll have to travel for about five to 10 days before you go to see them, they are just there . . . “
According to him, the reason why some of these Ghanaian nationals cannot return home is it is difficult to leave Russia when one’s Visa, which is usually for 30 days, expires; hence their resort to this life-threatening adventure.
Dr Boateng, thus, wants the government’s attention drawn to the predicament being faced by some Ghanaians in Russia