African people caught in limbo at borders trying to flee from Russia-Ukraine war
We are saddened by the news of African and other international students being denied at the border as they attempt to leave Ukraine. We are hopeful that the various embassies could swiftly rectify the situation to help those in need of support.
- BeyGOOD (@BeyGood) February 28, 2022
Background:
After president Vladimir Putin ordered attacks on Ukraine last week, thousands of people have been fleeing Ukraine seeking refuge. Many of these people are immigrants in the country, a good number of them being African. Seeking safety hasn’t been particularly easy for the black and African immigrants in particular as they are being met with blatant bigotry and racism at various borders.
- Reuters , https://www.reuters.com/world/au-decries-reports-ill-treatment-africans-try-flee-ukraine-2022-02-28/
There have been numerous reports about black people being pushed back every time they reach the front of the queue, waiting for days on end.
Claims that Black, south Asian and Mediterranean people escaping intensified shelling were blocked from crossing the border to Poland by security officials were initially dismissed as ‘Russian disinformation’ on social media.
But videos shared on Twitter showed African and Caribbean students and families being pushed away from boarding buses and trains heading out of Ukraine.
Filippo Grandi, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees, confirmed ‘there has been a different treatment’ during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
- Gergana Krasteva for MSN, https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/un-admits-ukrainian-refugees-have-faced-racism-on-poland-border/ar-AAUtV39
Two African students, of Eswatini (Swaziland) nationality, comfort each-other after they manage to pass the Romanian-Ukrainian border crossing point in Siret (Picture: EPA)
Pyra Diantouadi, an immigrant from Congo living in Dnipro, Ukraine, spoke with ABC News on Tuesday after arriving in Korzcowa, Poland.
He said that as he waited to board a train, he was told that only women and children were allowed but then watched as some Ukrainian men were allowed to board.
Korrine Sky, a Black British medical student living in Ukraine, told ABC News on Wednesday that she and her family were in a line of cars for 40 hours at the Romanian border, and as they reached the front of the line they were aggressively confronted by some Ukrainians who did not want them to enter.
Sky said that when she and her husband got out of the car to seek help from the Ukrainian military, they were asked to join a line for those traveling on foot that only included "people of color."
"There was, like, evident segregation," she said.
"They are prioritizing Ukrainian people leaving Ukraine," she added. "Us students, who've come from different countries to get an education for a better life for our families and friends, we're the least of their worries."
- Deena Zaru for ABC News, https://abcnews.go.com/International/nonwhite-refugees-fleeing-ukraine-caught-theyre-limbo-borders/story?id=83211545
A woman from Western Africa cries while taking on the phone after fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion, at the border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland, February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Rachel Onyegbule, a Nigerian first-year medical student in Lviv was left stranded at the border town of Shehyni, some 400 miles from Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.
She told CNN: "More than 10 buses came and we were watching everyone leave. We thought after they took all the Ukrainians they would take us, but they told us we had to walk, that there were no more buses and told us to walk."
"My body was numb from the cold and we haven't slept in about 4 days now. Ukrainians have been prioritized over Africans -- men and women -- at every point. There's no need for us to ask why. We know why. I just want to get home," Onyegbule told CNN in a telephone call Sunday as she waited in line at the border to cross into Poland.
- Stephanie Busari, Nimi Princewill, Shama Nasinde and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/indian-and-african-students-fleeing-ukraine-say-they-face-racism-at-border/ar-AAUrwz3
I originally wrote this for ONTD but wanted to have a version in my own journal as well and could not figure out how to cross-post. The ONTD post is here: https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/122857670.html