Refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine are confronted with racism as they try to leave the country. People of African or Indian origin, many of them immigrant students, have stated that when they tried to leave Ukraine via the border with Poland, border guards did not let them through.
Buses have been leaving Ukraine carrying only Ukrainian nationals, after African students were ordered off. Immigrants have had to walk to the border themselves and face long queues in freezing conditions, while native Ukrainians are being prioritized. There have also been reports of violence by guards against non-Ukrainian refugees.
“They stopped us at the border and told us that Blacks were not allowed. But we could see White people going through,” Moustapha Bagui Sylla, a student from Guinea, told France24. Bagui Sylla also said that the Ukrainian border guards claimed to be following instructions from Polish officials.
These war refugees are victims of the European Union’s racist anti-immigrant policies. In the past, it was mostly refugees from war-torn areas in Africa and Asia, especially Syria, that Europe denied entry to. Now that war is in Europe, the EU is accepting some people based on nationality while rejecting others, even though they are all fleeing the same war. Racism must be opposed, and all refugees fleeing war must be given passage.
