New Delhi: Every morning, Abid Qureshi scrolls through Facebook and flips through the Assignment Abroad Times , a biweekly paper for overseas jobs. Last month, one ad caught his eye: construction workers wanted in Moscow. After 12 years on Saudi sites and several more doing poorly paid odd jobs back home, Russia looked like a step up.

“The money would be better than in the Gulf,” said Qureshi, a resident of Rajasthan’s Churu. “I’m 49, and Europe and Russia are more relaxed about age. They don’t close the door,” he said.

The agency behind the ad accepted his CV and offered a 20-day training course to be conducted by Russian companies in November. The fee: Rs 2 lakh. Qureshi borrowed from friends to make the payment. It’s worth it to him with the promised Rs 1 lakh monthly wage in Mos

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