Migrant from Congo who helped build Shulyavsky Bridge asks Klitschko and Zelensky for help with documents

His name is Ben. He came from Congo and wants to work legally in Ukraine.

A Black construction worker named Ben, who came to Ukraine illegally from Congo and took part in building the Shulyavsky overpass, became a social media star after a photo by photographer Oleksandr Gusev was published. Now Ben has appealed to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and President Volodymyr Zelensky to help him obtain documents that would allow him to work legally in Ukraine.

36-year-old Ben told his story in an interview with journalist Vladyslav Bovtruk for Strana. 

Why he left Congo

It is very bad there. There is no work. I decided to leave after the sitting president, Joseph Kabila, was re-elected for a second term in 2011. That man spilled a great deal of blood. My parents and I opposed his rule. Congo is a very beautiful country. The nature there is very beautiful and diverse: very large tropical forests and several huge national parks. Congo is a very rich country, there is gold and diamonds, there are good people, but the government is very bad. The Congolese government is very cruel, it kills people. The government does nothing for the people, it only steals. Roads are not built, and there are big problems with transport. There is practically no internet anywhere. It is impossible to buy normal food. Most people are unemployed. In Congo I have a younger brother. His name is Mo, and a sister, Mariam. Our parents died 5 years ago. First my father died, and a year later my mother died. They were sick. In Congo there are such laws that if you are ill and go to a hospital but do not have money, you will not be treated. They did not have money to buy medicine or pills.

What he did in Congo

I worked as an electrician. I am an electrician by training. I repaired wiring in houses. I worked on construction sites. But in Congo they paid very little for my work, I earned one dollar a day. My parents had no education. They were simple workers who took on various jobs. In Congo it is very hard to find work. There are very many people who want to work, but there is no work.  

How he got to Ukraine

My father had a brother who went to Paris; his name is Abig, and he also works there as an electrician. He helped us with money, and our family survived because of it. I saved 1,500 euros from the money Abig sent. We went without food to save this money. My mother told me that when I started earning in Europe, I would help them with money. I wanted to go to Paris to Abig; he would have helped me find work. In Congo there are people who help you get to Europe.  We sailed from Congo to Russia on a ship. There were 15 of us in the group. We were told that from Russia a bus would take us to Paris. But we were brought to Ukraine. This was in 2011. We sailed to Russia on a cargo ship. A room where we lived was set up in the lower deck of the ship. There were bunk beds with mattresses. At night we were allowed to go up on deck so we could walk around a little. During the day we sat in the cabin and were forbidden to go out. When we arrived, our group split up. Eight people had their own route and their own destinations. The remaining seven people, including me, were met by a Russian man who was with a guy from Congo. They asked for our passports. They said they were needed to buy us bus tickets. We were put on a bus that took us to the border. I did not understand where they were taking us. Near the border we were gotten off the bus and led into the forest. We walked about 10 kilometers and ended up on the other side of the border. They took us across the border and handed us over to another man, who put us in a minibus.  I had no idea where I was. I thought this was a route to Paris through the forest. Moreover, our documents had stayed with the Russian who met us when we arrived in Russia. The documents were stolen. The bus driver did not understand French. He brought us to Kyiv, to the Shulyavsky market to the Africans. He knew that Africans sold things there, and simply judged by skin color that we could talk to them. When we saw Black people, we went up to them and started asking where we were. There were several guys there who understood French. They explained to us that we were in Ukraine. I had a little money with me. I asked for help finding a place where I could stay for the first while until I found work.  

Life and work in Kyiv

  It was very hard. I did not know Russian. The guy I lived with helped me find work. A loader at a plastics factory in Vynohradar was my first job. They paid 200 hryvnias a day. That was enough for me to pay for housing and food. Back then I lived with my friend Maris. Later I left when Maris left there. After the plastics factory I worked as a loader at a vegetable depot in Bilohorodka. Maris got a job there too, and he invited me to join him. I did not go to Paris because I do not have documents. Illegal crossing is very expensive. And I do not have reliable people who could arrange it. Besides, I had a job in Ukraine, and that allowed me to somehow live. I have always had problems with this, and I still do. Every time an inspection came to the enterprises where I worked, I was hidden. I want to give this interview in the hope that Klitschko or Zelensky will see it, and they will help me solve my problems with documents. I was taken to the migration service several times, where I paid fines. At the migration service they registered me as a refugee, but only until 2015. When the validity of the documents expired, I was detained again, and my documents were extended again until 2017. Then I was detained once more, and the documents were extended again until 2018. Now I have been walking without documents for more than a year. During this time I paid bribes to police officers many times so they would not take me to the migration service, because I did not have money to pay the fine. Each time the validity of my refugee document expired, I paid a fine of 1,500 hryvnias. I do not have a passport. I wanted to get a passport, but at the migration department they told me it was my problem. I came here myself, so I have to solve my own problems.  There is no Congolese embassy in Ukraine, so I have nowhere to turn. That is why I hope that people who are now in power will help me. I have hands and feet, and I very much want to work in Ukraine. I do not need Paris, Ukraine is Europe. But I cannot work normally without documents.  

For almost a year I have been working for the company Modern Transport Infrastructure LLC, which repairs roads in Kyiv.  I do everything I am told. Mainly I lay curbs and asphalt on sidewalks. I am paid 100 hryvnias an hour. Each day I work differently. Sometimes I can work 8 hours, sometimes 10. That is enough for me to live on. I have seen Klitschko only twice. I wanted to approach him and tell him about my problem with documents so he would help me. But my bosses told me not to do that. I work at this company unofficially, and they could send me straight to the migration department. That is what they told me. 

Whether he would like to return to Congo

I would like to visit my parents' grave; I have never been there. Of course I miss Congo a little, but there is no work there, and you cannot buy normal food. Here I earn money and can help my brother and sister who stayed in Congo.  I send them part of what I earn. I have people who help me do this for 100 hryvnias.

About wishes for the New Year

I am already too grown up for such fairy tales. But I have a request for the president. I once saw his interview. Zelensky said he was ready to grant citizenship to everyone who wants to work in Ukraine. I very much want to work here, I love this country and do not want to go anywhere else. So if in the new year I get a Ukrainian passport, my greatest wish will come true.

You can read the full interview at this link.