Racism Even at the Height of a Crisis

We are now getting confirmation of racist treatment by Ukrainian border patrols accused of blocking people of color from accessing safe passage amid the Russian offensive into Ukraine. Filippo Grandi, commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, acknowledged “reports in the media that there are different treatments with Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians” during a news conference  on Tuesday.

Rachel Onyegbule, a Nigerian student in Lviv for her first year of medical school, told CNN she was stranded in Shehyni, a town about 400 miles from Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv. "More than 10 buses came and we were watching everyone leave," she told the news network. "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,” Onyegbule added. “There's no need for us to ask why. We know why. I just want to get home."

Saakshi Ijantkar, a medical student in her fourth year from Mumbai, India, shared a similar experience in an interview with CNN. "There are three check posts we need to go through to get to the border. A lot of people are stranded there. They don't allow Indians to go through," Ijantkar said. She said border authorities allow 30 Indians in only after 500 Ukranians are allowed in. Ijantkar talked to CNN from a phone in Lviv, which is in western Ukraine. "To get to this border you need to walk 4 to 5 kilometers from the first checkpoint to the second one," she said. “Ukrainians are given taxis and buses to travel, all other nationalities have to walk. They were very racist to Indians and other nationalities."

Nigerian student Jessica Orakpo told BBC News Africa she was “begging” and even lied that she was pregnant to sway an official to allow her a ride. “The official literally looked me in my eye and said in his language, ‘Only Ukrainians. That’s all, that if you are Black, you should walk,’” Orakpo said. She told BBC she did eventually get out of Ukraine, arriving in Debrecen, Hungary, at about 10 AM on Monday.

Her journey, however, wasn’t easy. She said it started when she tried to take a commercial taxi to Poland. “The taxi couldn’t stay in the line of cars ‘cuz literally cars had been there for two days,” Orakpo said.

So she decided to walk the rest of the way. A traffic warden who saw her recommended she go to a shelter to sleep, and the next day she received word that a bus would take those at the shelter straight to Poland, Orakpo said. When the bus arrived, however, she said she was told it was only for Ukrainians. She walked an additional eight hours, she said.  “The problem isn’t at the Polish border,” Orakpo said. “It is at the Ukrainian border because you have to step out at the Ukrainian border to get on the Polish side, and the Ukrainians are only prioritizing their citizens. They don’t care. They will push you. They will beat you. If you can make it, you make it. If you don’t, you don’t.” 

All people have the "right to cross international borders during conflict," African Union chairpersons stated. "Reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach of international law," the African Union said in its statement.