Report: Ukraine War Discloses Prejudice Against Africans, Arabs

There has been a lot of talk recently about racist incidents that some fleeing Ukraine were subjected to because of their skin. A number of African students confirmed that they were exposed to racism while trying to flee the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to a DW reporter on a Polish border town, Joseph, a computer engineering student, said: "We faced a lot of discrimination...we had to actually beg people to take us to the border so we could find a way to escape.”

Several Africans who tried to flee Ukraine after Russia's 'military operation' say they had problems getting between buses or trains to the Ukraine border because their skin is black.

On social networking sites, a number of people of non-European nationalities say that once they reach the border crossings, Ukrainian border guards give priority to Ukrainians and send others (mostly from African countries), to the back of a queue, some of which stretches for kilometers.

Media's Double Criteria 

The statements of the African students and citizens came at a time when several comments were issued describing racism by European reporters and journalists for the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Media and politicians' comparisons between the Middle East, which is accustomed to conflicts, and the war in "civilized" Ukraine did not go unnoticed by Arab commentators on social media, who saw in it a "racist" approach.

Examples of these statements abounded in French and American channels and British newspapers, prompting many well-known media outlets to publish public apologies to calm the anger on the social media sites.

An example of this was a comment made by CBS News' special envoy to Ukraine Charlie D'Agata, who said in a direct message, "With all due respect, this is not a place like Iraq and Afghanistan, which have known decades of war. It is a civilized city. Relatively, European (...) where we do not expect something similar to happen." However, the next day he expressed his apology and remorse.

Al Jazeera English was forced to apologize for the "insensitive" statements made by a broadcaster about Ukrainian refugees. The announcer commented, "The clothes they are wearing show that they are from an affluent middle class. They are definitely not refugees fleeing war zones in the Middle East." "They are like any European family, you might live in your neighborhood," he added.

Journalist Philippe Courbet commented on the French channel "BFMTV" by saying, "We are not talking here about Syrians fleeing the bombing of the Syrian regime backed by Vladimir Putin... but about Europeans fleeing in cars that look like ours... and trying to save their lives."

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said that Ukrainian refugees "are not the refugees that Europe is accustomed to." They are “smart, educated people, some of whom are IT professionals and are highly qualified.”

Africa's Response

On its part, the African Union expressed its alarm at reports that African citizens on the Ukrainian side of the border are being denied the right to cross safe international borders.

The current President of the African Union and President of the Republic of Senegal Macky Sall and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki affirmed in a statement that all people have the right to cross international borders during the conflict, stressing the need for them to enjoy the same rights to cross to safe international borders regardless of their nationality or their ethnic identity.

The statement affirmed that reports that Africans are being targeted with different treatment are unacceptable, represent shocking racism and violate international law, calling on everyone to respect international law and to express the same sympathy and support for all people fleeing the war, regardless of their ethnic identity.

It is noteworthy that nearly 75,000 foreigners study in Ukraine, a quarter of them are Africans, most of them from Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana.

https://see.news/report-russia-ukraine-crisis-inevitable-guerilla-war/