Serfdom rearing its ugly head in Europe after 150 years

[Sir Adrian]

Despite the scandal it caused 2 years Lukanshenko went ahead and extended the spacial treatment he gave workers in the lumber industry to farmers and workers in the agricultural sector.

Alexander Lukashenko is living up to his reputation as Europe’s last remaining dictator. The president of Belarus has decided to bring back serfdom on farms in a bid to stop urban migration. Lukashenko has announced plans to introduce legislation prohibiting farm labourers from quitting their jobs and moving to the cities. “Yesterday, a decree was put on my table concerning – we are speaking bluntly – serfdom,” the Belarus leader told a meeting on Tuesday to discuss improvements to livestock farming, gazeta.ru reported.
The serfdom decree would beef up the power of regional governors and “teach the peasants to work more efficiently,” Lukashenko said. Governors who failed to ensure timely and efficient harvests in their regions would get the sack, he added.
Lukashenko, who was deputy chairman of a Soviet collective farm before entering politics in 1990, is famous for his obsession with agriculture. Belarus produces large amounts of potatoes and cereals as well as livestock, but farming methods have hardly been reformed since the Soviet era. Low agricultural wages and limited prospects have persuaded many farm workers to leave the countryside to seek opportunities in the cities or in neighbouring Russia.
Serfdom was abolished in the Russian empire by Tsar Alexander II in 1861 but made a comeback under a different guise in the Soviet era. Workers at the kind of collective farm that Lukashenko once ran were tied to the land by travel restrictions and laws obliging all able bodied adults to register as employed.
If Lukashenko signs the serfdom decree, Belarus will be in violation of the 1957 international convention on the abolition of forced labour to which it is a signatory. That didn’t stop him adopting a law in 2012 stopping timber industry workers from quitting their jobs and it probably won’t stop him now.
Russia may however raise objections.
Belarus is expected to join his Russian and Kazakhstani counterparts on Thursday in signing a treaty intended to deepen economic ties between the three former Soviet countries. Members of the new, Moscow led Eurasian Union will be obliged to guarantee, among other things, the free movement of the work force across their common frontiers. Lukashenko could be found to be breaking the law if he tries to tie agricultural labourers to the land.

source
http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/201...thorised=false

(the site requires you to create a free accoutn to be able to read the article, so I quoted all of it)

So basically he is tying the farmers to their lands while giving the governors power of life and death over them and a clear "results or else" option. It's not hard to imagine the string of abuses resulting from this set-up as governors will do everything in thier power to keep living comfortably.

While I agree that agricultural collapse is a huge problem in the former communist block (mostly due to the communists destruction of the traditional village and forced industrialization), this has got to be the most insane way in which to go about solving it.

[Condottiere 40K]

The EU isn't going to tolerate another North Korea on it's borders, regardless of what the perceived Russian sphere of influence is.

[Earl Dibbles Jr]

The EU isn't going to tolerate another North Korea on it's borders, regardless of what the perceived Russian sphere of influence is.

The EU is full of sissies who will do nothing about this.

[ShockBlast]

If would be much more easier, and socially acceptable, to make a finance scheme to subsidise workers in agriculture.
If the income generated from agriculture would be bigger people would not leave anymore.
It would also be a good idea to invest in mechanizing agriculture.

The EU isn't going to tolerate another North Korea on it's borders, regardless of what the perceived Russian sphere of influence is.

Just you wait a 2 or 3 yeas until the economy stabilises, EU will destabilise this dictator and the riots in Belarus have shown that the average Belarusian wants to be closer to EU.

[Holger Danske]

Just you wait a 2 or 3 yeas until the economy stabilises, EU will destabilise this dictator and the riots in Belarus have shown that the average Belarusian wants to be closer to EU.

And then the Russian Riot Tourism kicks in.

[Geronimo2006]

Belarus is a client state of Moscow. It has a growing Russian military presence including nukes. The EU can do nothing except sanctions. If there's a revolution in Minsk - which is considered a matter of time - Putin will scream "fascists" and roll in the tanks. With just 8-10 million people it will be a walkover.

[YuriVII]

This really conflicts with the new Eurasian Union regulations.Wonder how it will end up. Wait and see.

[Sir Adrian]

As far as I know the bill was already signed.

[hellheaven1987]

But Belarus is not part of Europe!!

[Mangalore]

But Belarus is not part of Europe!!

Every upright German knows you need to shorten that front line if you want to succeed... oh wait, wrong channel. Peace, people. Peace in our time!

[Basil II the B.S]

He'll probably get -slapped by Putin.

[Col. Tartleton]

Russia will take Minsk and Europe will be like "Fair play, that dude was a ."

[alhoon]

Serfdom? SERIOUSLY?!?!?
Hasn't that system proved to be ineffective like 300 years ago? Hasn't Napoleon demolished that 200 years ago?

[Col. Tartleton]

Its very effective. It's just very not nice.

[alhoon]

Its very effective. It's just very not nice.

It's not effective because a genius born as a farmer will not become a Nobel prize winner, but a very smart farmer.

Lukashenko, the glorious leader for our times, proving that serfdom is love and freedom of movement is the devil trying to corrupt the holy Orthodox Church.

What the heck the Orthodox church, that doesn't mind freedom of movement, has to do with that?

[Col. Tartleton]

It's not effective because a genius born as a farmer will not become a Nobel prize winner, but a very smart farmer.

Good. Sweden and its shiny bauble can go itself.

Nobel Prizes won't feed the proletariat comrade.

[kanecaston]

Good. Sweden and its shiny bauble can go itself.

Nobel Prizes won't feed the proletariat comrade.

To think, Obama won a nobel prize, for peace!

[Roma_Victrix]

What the heck the Orthodox church, that doesn't mind freedom of movement, has to do with that?

I didn't say the Greek Orthodox Church, did I? I was speaking of the Russian, or in this case Belarusian Orthodox Church. And I was making a sarcastic joke, if that wasn't very clear, painting any opposition to this serfdom legislation as sinful and in league with the devil to try and corrupt our good upstanding Belarusian youth.

[Aru]

Good move. Migration from rural areas into cities has seriously damaged urban culture,
In other words peasants have no manners and should be kicked out to their muddy holes.

[Mayer]

That's why he isn't as good as Hitler who gave peasants dignity and honour