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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOpinion: Your solidarity is problematic if you leave Africans behind in Ukraine
The shocking invasion of Ukraine threatens millions of people's lives. Half a million people sought humanitarian refuge in neighboring countries within a week, and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Ukrainian men were separated from their loved ones and stayed to fight in the country while their families sought refuge, carrying with them trauma and uncertainty.
People say war brings out both the best and the worst in people. In these crises, people in neighboring and nearby countries are opening their borders, homes, and even their arms, helping those fleeing the violence. Aid organizations, ordinary people, and politicians worldwide are showing solidarity. So many people are trying to help in some way and that is inspiring.
But there's also another side, one that is a nightmare for Black people and other people of color who are denied access to safety. Many people of color from Africa, India, the Middle East and other regions who lived in Ukraine were denied the same welcome that was bestowed on others. Many were denied access to trains or buses that were designated to move refugees in Ukraine to safety, told that only Ukrainians were allowed. And when they arrived at the border by foot, they were pushed back at some Polish borders. They are as vulnerable, scared, and disappointed as the people in Ukraine are. What kind of solidarity excludes them from help?
International students who spent nights near the Polish borders said they were also denied access to food and water, necessities that were distributed to those waiting to cross. They were forced to retreat to areas being bombed and to seek an alternative way out.
Over 76,000 international students are studying in Ukraine, and over 25% come from India and African countries, including Nigeria, Morocco, and Egypt. There are also workers and migrants who, too, needed to find a safe place.
More:https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-your-solidarity-is-problematic-if-you-leave-africans-behind-in-ukraine/a-60986969
Karadeniz
(22,513 posts)sheshe2
(83,754 posts)This video is heartbreaking.
So many of them are students, they are young and alone in a foreign country.
Link to tweet
Karadeniz
(22,513 posts)questionseverything
(9,654 posts)N/t
Karadeniz
(22,513 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,820 posts)They need to be allowed to go home
questionseverything
(9,654 posts)They arent polish
And the polish have their hands full with women and children
llashram
(6,265 posts)"they aren't Polish". Well neither are the thousands of Ukrainians seeking refuge and NOT being turned away from the Polish border. I do understand their embassies should help them and maybe are trying in a war-ravaged country. Yet the empathy being shown to white women and children at the Polish border is not equal to women, children and men of colour, mostly students studying in that country, at the Polish border. Who are being turned back to suffer the ravages of war that is not their war as I see it.
While waiting for transport from their embassies, IF they have any locally, they should just have to fend for themselves AFTER being turned away at the Polish border, right? That's your point here? Just asking for some clarification per your post...
hippywife
(22,767 posts)of a black man from one of the organizations helping refugees. He said people are making assumptions. Because Ukrainian men 60 and under are not permitted to leave and the priority is first women with children, and then women traveling alone, it leaves men, many of them foreign men of color, as last to be evacuated.
I saw a separate video of a black man in the Berlin train station say the same, so he decided to walk.
sheshe2
(83,754 posts)hippywife
(22,767 posts)I'm going to try to find the ones I saw, tho I've seen so many today.
I checked out the source before I posted the article and video. They are reliable and have a good rating for accurate reporting.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/dw-news/
hippywife
(22,767 posts)The man at the end explained what I just said above. The other video from the African aid worker at the border was in a bunch of UN videos I watched yesterday. I may never find it again given everything I looked at yesterday not even on DU or Twitter.
https://mobile.twitter.com/marceldirsus/status/1499339110502256641
hippywife
(22,767 posts)about right wing extremists causing problems in Poland, on their own, possibly Russian backed. I know from what the UN and EU have both stated, this has to be localized, because it's not policy. I hope they find whoever is responsible and prosecute them. 🤬
https://abcnews.go.com/International/extremists-harass-minority-refugees-arriving-poland-ukraine-witnesses/story?id=83203897
If I ever find the other video with the African aid worker, I'll post it, too.
sheshe2
(83,754 posts)malaise
(268,987 posts)Even before they got here they spoke about the racism meted out to them - male and female
Response to sheshe2 (Reply #12)
malaise This message was self-deleted by its author.
onecaliberal
(32,854 posts)Hoping awareness makes people better.
JustAnotherGen
(31,820 posts)https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-conflict-nigerian-outrage-treatment-123300545.html
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said there were about 4,000 Nigerians in Ukraine, mostly students.
He said one group had repeatedly been refused entry to Poland so they travelled back into Ukraine to head for Hungary instead.
"All who flee a conflict situation have the same right to safe passage under the UN Convention, and the colour of their passport or their skin should make no difference," Mr Buhari said in a tweet.
More than 500,000 Ukrainians have managed to flee the Russian invasion so far.
Mostly students.
Not Ukrainians.
LET THEM GO HOME.
sheshe2
(83,754 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,820 posts)Because they aren't 'Ukrainians' -
Then if the young men aren't 'Ukrainians' - then can't be conscripted by Zelensky.
JustAnotherGen
(31,820 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,820 posts)What the Ukrainian border guards need to understand - is these people have families waiting for them in their home country - which is NOT being invaded by the Russians.
brer cat
(24,562 posts)I hope someone will help these students get home soon.
TheProle
(2,167 posts)Ukraine has its hands full and the fog of war is a cruel thing indeed, but part of aspiring to the EU and NATO is a demonstration of respect for all human rights.
My hope is that the Ukrainians will prevail and, once the fog is lifted, reflect on their societal challenges.
sheshe2
(83,754 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,649 posts)thank you for this one truth
Online hate speech soon chased after them.
People posted nonsense, accusing people of color of not being civilized enough to be rescued. They claim that priority should go to white people. They say that Black people and other people of color should stay and fight in Ukraine, as if they actually had the right to choose who gets refuge and who must face war. It is outrageous and it is blatant racism. It is unacceptable, this ridiculous notion that empathy depends on the skin color of a person. And it is a shame that this is happening in wartime.
Solly Mack
(90,765 posts)Sunsky
(1,737 posts)We are always at the bottom of the totem pole
My only question is, why some of these countries didn't try to remove their citizens before it reach this point? Chaos is inevitable in a last-minute exodus. Also, crises will sometimes expose our true nature. This is not surprising to me.