TIME, March 1, 2022
Over half a million people have left Ukraine for Europe
since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, according to the UN’s refugee
agency. Up to 4 million could flee if the situation deteriorates further,
creating a migrant crisis not seen in Europe since World War II. Poland,
Ukraine’s largest neighbor after Russia, is the main receiving country, and
welcoming tents with food and medics have sprung up along the border to deal
with the massive outflow of people.
-snip-
Here's a transcript from the English language caption in this video: Interview with a male fleeing Ukraine who is identified as "a
Turkish national who was working in Kyiv, Ukraine" [beginning at 1:44 to 2:35 in this video:
"All the time Ukrainians can pass every checkpoint. every passage, every door easily, but we always wait one hour, two, three hours and always there was some discrimination and racism, I think.
I think not all Ukrainians are racist or something, but at the border guys,
border soldiers, border police they were super racist. I think. All the black people, Arabic people, especially, they-what I saw, they
beat them, they throw their guns to them at night. It was snowing, like just people wanted to walk. They (Ukrainian soldiers) stop
us for three hours. They didn’t let us walk and people get like aggressive. And
they just use the curse too, you know. And after every border, every
check-point like never treated like a human."
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases five YouTube video reports of racism and discrimination that was experienced by Black people and other People of Color who were fleeing the war that Russia started against the Ukraine. These videos are given in no particular order and are examples of multiple other videos on this subjects that have recently been published on YouTube.
The Addendum to this post presents excerpts from two online articles about this subject.
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who published these videos on YouTube.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
I stand with Ukraine in this war that was sarted by Russia.
That said, I believe that the multiple reports about discrimination and racism that Black people and other People of Color fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine are accurate. I also strongly believe that Ukraine and other nations should treat every refugee the same, regardless of those refugee's race, skin color, nationality, religion, or gender orientation.
My prayers are for ALL people who are fleeing the war in Ukraine and ALL those who are experiencing the horrors of war in Ukraine.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: African students fleeing Ukraine claim discrimination at Poland border | Russia-Ukraine Conflict
WION, March 1, 2022
African students are reportedly speaking out that they face discrimination at the border of Poland while attempting to escape to safety as thousands of people in Ukraine flee the country following Russia's invasion.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: Medical Student Says ‘Racism’ Prevented Her From Leaving
Ukraine
Inside Edition,
Thousands of international students in Ukraine just want to go home. Many of them say that wish is being delayed or denied because of their skin color. Viral videos circulating on social media appear to show African, Middle Eastern and Indian students treated differently than their European counterparts. In places like India and Nigeria, families are protesting to get their students and loved ones out of a dangerous war zone.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 : Reports of racist treatment against Africans trying to flee
Ukraine
TRT World, March 2, 2022
Africans trying to flee Ukraine say authorities stop them
from leaving while letting Ukrainians through.
TRT is a Turkish public broadcast service. Wikipedia
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #5: Ukraine War Is Exposing Racial Disparities in Refugee Treatment | The Daily Show
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, March 3, 2022
The Russian invasion of Ukraine ramps up, neighboring
countries welcome displaced Ukrainians, and comparisons with past refugee
crises highlight a less compassionate approach to displaced people from Africa
and the Middle East. #DailyShow #Ukraine
-snip-
This video includes some comments and film footage comparing Eastern Europe's treatment of Middle Eastern refugees in the recent past and its much better treatment of Ukrainian refugees now.
Around 9:11 in this video the discussion changes to the discriminatory way that Black People and
other People of color fleeing Ukraine are being treated.
****
ADDENDUM - EXCERPTS FROM TWO ONLINE ARTICLES ABOUT THIS SUBJECT
There are also multiple online articles about discriminatory treatment that Black people and other People of Color experienced while they fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are excerpts from two of those articles (given in no particular order).
Excerpt #1
From https://news.yahoo.com/african-students-fleeing-ukraine-report-racial-discrimination-at-borders-234429880.html African students fleeing Ukraine report racial
discrimination at borders
Chanelle Chandler,
"At least a million refugees have fled Ukraine over the past
week, seeking safety in neighboring European countries from Russia’s advancing
military forces. Amid the chaos and deadly attacks on major cities that the
U.N. estimates have so far killed approximately 3,300 civilians, some African
students have reported encountering ugly instances of racism from some
civilians and members of the Ukrainian military as they try to escape the
country.
Korrine Sky, a 26-year-old second-year medical student from Leicester, England, documented on Twitter what she endured, using the trending hashtag #africansinukraine.
On Feb. 25, after hearing the air-raid sirens sound in Dnipro, a city in eastern Ukraine, Sky, a Zimbabwean-born British citizen, and her husband, a neurosurgery student she met in Ukraine, hastily gathered documents and some of their belongings and set off for the Romanian border. The couple faced long lines for gas and to get money out of an ATM before they joined an automotive queue at the border. Still in Ukraine, they slept in the car for two days.
“On our way to the border, a man held a gun up at me and told us that if we don’t leave in five minutes, he would shoot us,” Sky told a pool of reporters that included Yahoo News. “Other Black women have been reported being shoved, being pushed, women with children. It’s horrific. The treatment has been awful.”
The last 24 hours of her journey in the queue, Sky said, were the worst because that’s when she started facing “racism and segregation.”...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/2/more-racism-at-ukrainian-borders More Racism At Ukrainian Borders
More African students decry racism at Ukrainian borders
As at least half a million refugees flee Ukraine, more reports of mistreatment by Ukrainian border guards surface.
By Virginia Pietromarchi, Published On 2 Mar 2022
"Barlaney Mufaro Gurure, a space engineering student from
Zimbabwe, had finally reached the front of a nine-hour queue at Ukraine’s
western border crossing of Krakovets after an exhausting four-day trip.
It was her turn to cross. But the border guard
pushed her and four other African students she was travelling with aside,
giving priority to Ukrainians. It took hours, and relentless demands, before
they were also allowed to go.
“We felt treated like animals,” the 19-year-old said in a
phone interview from a Warsaw hotel. Gurure, a freshman at the National
Aviation University, fled Kyiv hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin
ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24.
“When we left [Kyiv] we were just trying to survive,” she said. “We never thought that they would have treated us like that […] I thought we were all equal, that we were trying to stand together,” Gurure added."...
****
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