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Thursday March 28, 2024

Double standards

By Abdoulie Njai & Micaelatorres & Margareta Matache
March 17, 2022

In the weeks since Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated the invasion of Ukraine, Brown and Black people fleeing Ukraine continue to experience racism and violence, including in neighboring EU countries. Romanian police officers aggressively removed Ukrainian Roma women from refugee-dedicated rooms just recently. Polish police officers also pointed guns at African students. This war, a looming humanitarian catastrophe, has unleashed new, overt, and cruel manifestations of racism on the continent, revealing longstanding double standards at the global level.

The Ukrainian humanitarian crisis has brought many extraordinary examples of global solidarity to light. Yet, journalists, politicians, non-profit organizations, and the international community keep signaling to the world that only attacks on white lives are attacks on humanity. A recent statement by former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine David Sakvarelidze represents the beliefs and thoughts of many. “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blond hair…being killed every day”. This narrative reinforces an old civilized/barbaric stereotype, in which white European people are portrayed as inherently peaceful while African/Middle Eastern people are thought to be predisposed to conflict and war.

The people who left Ukraine made tremendous sacrifices by abandoning their homes, loved ones, colleges, and jobs to reach safety at the borders. But at the borders, people received different levels of support based on their perceived identities and value in society. Many African students report waiting at the Polish border for hours in freezing temperatures even as buses of white Ukrainians are allowed in. Even hotel rooms have been set aside exclusively for ‘Ukrainians’.

The problem begins on the Ukrainian side where Ukrainian security officials filter the people allowed to board buses and trains to safety. Ukrainians are deemed worthy of occupying space in these transit vehicles, but African students and citizens face a barrier due to generations of racist ideologies.

Many Nigerian citizens remain trapped in Ukraine because they are not permitted to enter countries that opened their doors to people fleeing from Russian violence. Not only are these people experiencing the trauma of evacuating a war zone, but they are also experiencing physical and verbal assault by border guards. Videos and first-hand accounts from African students depict the discrimination and overt racism they are experiencing as they try to reach safety.

On February 27, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari issued a press release declaring that “All who flee a conflict situation have the same right to safe passage under UN Convention and the colour of their passport or their skin should make no difference”. Nevertheless, this is not the case for Nigerian citizens. On March 2, Buhari approved a provision to allocate $8.5 million to assist the evacuation of Nigerian citizens.

The message that European countries have been delivering for years is that they have the power and willingness to open their doors to refugees, but only if those refugees look like ‘Europeans’. On February 24, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski stated, “Anyone fleeing from bombs, from Russian rifles, can count on the support of the Polish state”. However, less than a month ago, in January 2022, the same administration was willing to spend 353 million euros to build a wall to keep out refugees from Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Afghanistan.

The same holds true for Hungary, which has welcomed over 255,000 Ukrainians. This is the same country that built an electric razor-wire fence to keep refugees out of their country.

Excerpted: ‘The Racist Double Standard of Refugees Who Are Welcome and Those Who Are Not’.

Courtesy: Commondreams.org