月給３３万円のはずが…賃金を搾取されるシリア人傭兵　報告書

【ベイルートＡＦＰ＝時事】リビアや係争地ナゴルノカラバフなどの紛争地で戦うシリア人傭兵（ようへい）の多くが、賃金を搾取されているとする報告書が２７日、発表された。彼らを外国の戦場に送り込んでいるのは、１０年間に及ぶシリア内戦で暗躍した二大外国勢力であるトルコとロシアのブローカーだ。（写真は資料写真）
　２０１９年後半以降、傭兵としてトルコとロシアに直接的・間接的に雇用されたシリア人戦闘員は数千人に及ぶ。
　「シリア正義と説明責任センター（ＳＪＡＣ）」は「真実と正義のためのシリア人（ＳＴＪ）」と共同で、搾取されるシリア人傭兵の雇用状況について調査した。
　シリア人傭兵のうち最も大きな割合を占めるのは、トルコの影響下にあるシリア北西部に流れ着いた元反体制派の戦闘員だ。一方、シリア正規軍の元兵士や政権側の元戦闘員の一部は、ロシアの民間軍事会社ワグネルなど、ロシア軍関係者によって紛争地に派遣されている。
　ＳＴＪのバッサム・アフマド専務理事は、「多くのシリア人にとって傭兵稼業が唯一の収入源となっている。国際社会がその根本原因を解決し、関係者に責任を取らせなければならない」と指摘する。

■月給３３万円のはずが…
　報告書には、リビアやナゴルノカラバフに送られた戦闘員の多くは選択肢をほとんど与えられず、契約時に提示された賃金のほんの一部しか受け取っていない事実が詳細に記されている。
　シリア反体制派出身の傭兵は、親トルコ派の反体制組織による連合体「シリア国民軍（ＳＮＡ）」の傘下で緩くつながっているが、「個々の戦闘員は常にＳＮＡ幹部に搾取されていた」という。
　リビアで戦ったある傭兵は、「給料が３か月間支払われなかった。前金で１人当たり３００ドル（約３万３０００円）要求したが、１００ドル（約１万１０００円）しか渡されなかった。残りは幹部が懐に入れた」と証言した。
　契約時に提示された雇用条件は、月給３０００ドル（約３３万円）と死亡時の遺族補償金７万５０００ドル（約８２０万円）で、トルコの市民権が約束されることもあった。契約書が作成される場合もあったという。

　報告書は、トルコのために傭兵の募集を行っているブローカーの「武装組織はいつも契約を破る」との証言を紹介し、戦闘員が受け取れる月給は８００～１４００ドル（約８万８０００～１５万３０００円）と記している。
　ＳＪＡＣのモハンマド・アブダラ専務理事は、契約通りの賃金を支払わずに傭兵を外国の戦場での秘密作戦に従事させるのは犯罪の温床になると指摘。リビアではシリア人傭兵による強盗、性的目的の人身売買、誘拐が報告されているとして、「賃金をカットすれば、ただでさえ法規を超越した存在を自認する傭兵たちをさらなる犯罪行為に走らせる」とＡＦＰに語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/06/02-14:38）

Many of the Syrian fighters deployed, sometimes forcibly, in foreign conflict theatres such as Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh are robbed of their wages, said a report released Thursday.
Since late 2019, thousands of fighters have been recruited as mercenaries, directly or indirectly, by Turkey and Russia, the two main foreign brokers in the decade-old Syrian war.
The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), in collaboration with the Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), conducted a study into the exploitative recruitment of these mercenaries.
The largest number of Syrian mercenaries are former anti-regime rebels who have washed up in parts of northwestern Syria under Turkish influence.
The participation of Syrians as mercenary fighters in combat abroad is serving to enrich and strengthen some of the most criminal armed groups inside the country, particularly Turkish-backed groups in the northwest, said Mohammad al-Abdallah, executive director of SJAC.
Some former members of the regular Syrian army and fighters allied militia groups have also been sent by Russian military players, such as the shadowy Wagner Group.
In Libya, which has been conflict-riven for the past decade, Turkey has supported the UN-recognised Government of National Accord while Russia backed forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
In the conflict that erupted last year in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey dispatched fighters from its Syrian proxies to support Azerbaijan against Armenia.
The recruits are usually members of groups that were defeated by pro-regime forces over the course of the Syrian conflict and are loosely united under the umbrella of the Turkey-controlled Syrian National Army (SNA).
The international community must hold those involved accountable, while also addressing the root causes that make mercenary work one of the only sources of income for many Syrian, said STJ executive director Bassam al-Ahmad.
- $3,000 salary -
The report details how many of the fighters sent to Libya or Nagorno-Karabakh had little choice in the matter and only received a fraction of the money they were promised.
Individual fighters were regularly defrauded by senior SNA figures, it said.
The report recounts the case of a fighter sent to Libya with a brigade from the SNA-led Sultan Murad division who said top officers tried to seize the wages of the rank-and-file.
We went three months without being paid, and after we each asked for an advance of $300 they only gave us 100 and kept the rest, the fighter testified.
Recruited mercenaries were offered deals, sometimes in written contracts, fetching $3,000 in monthly pay with compensation to the families of $75,000 in case of death and sometimes even Turkish citizenship.
A broker who organised recruitment drives for Turkey and is quoted in the report said the armed groups always breach the contracts and give the fighters salaries of $800-1,400.
Issues of unpaid compensation were also reported after Syrian mercenaries were killed in Libya and in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In northwestern Syria, some SNA fighters who had been given homes by their militia were kicked out after refusing to be deployed in Libya.
Mohammad al-Abdallah said keeping unpaid fighters from a covert operation stranded in a foreign war zone was a recipe for crime.
The reduction of wages pushed the fighters -- who consider themselves above the law -- to engage in more criminal activities, he told AFP.
Abdallah said burglaries, sex trafficking and kidnappings committed by Syrian mercenaries were reported in Libya.