Russia To Use Prison Labour For 2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia would use slave labour ready from its prison for driving down the costs of FIFA World Cup, 2018. But this move has sent alarm bells across the world with questions being raised about potential human rights violations. Many have compared the move to the imposition of the Gulag system across the country.

The lawmaker from the ruling United Russia Party, Alexander Khinshtein is putting forth a proposal where prisoners would be used in factories and building sites to expedite the World Cup, 2018 preparations. The Federal Penitentiary Service is backing the bid and has been working on the proposal which would be submitted to the parliament. The prisoners would be taken from their camps to the factories and construction sites to labour for the state. "It'll help in the sense that there will be the opportunity to acquire building materials for a lower price, lower than there is currently on the market," Khinshtein told The Associated Press. According to New York Daily News, the deputy director of FPS, Alexander Rudy, told Kommersant newspaper that he was keen to use prison labour for “tasks that wouldn't appeal to the ordinary citizens,”

Russia’s world Cup budget of USD 12.7 billion (AUD 16.55 billion) has been stretched as the Rouble continues to drop in value. It has gained much ground but still is worth one third less than its price against the dollar in 2014. The international sanctions and the dropping oil prices have affected the Russian economy making imports extremely costly.

The proposal is under consideration and officials say that the prisoner would be paid $300, a month. But human rights activists are crying foul. Already Russia has poor prison conditions and Pussy Riot band member, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova had attracted international attention by going on a hunger strike in protest against the appalling conditions in her camp.

The World Cup organizer FIFA is already facing much criticism for its poor human rights records. It has awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2022 and the high rate of migrant worker death in their camp-sites has been criticised. Russia’s controversial move is a chilling reminder of the Shawshank Redemption style slave labour camp for prisoners.

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