Watch: Viral videos show blatant racism against African and Asian refugees in Ukraine

On February 24,

Russia

invaded Ukraine. Russia's military action against

Ukraine

has seen missiles and bombs hit cities across the country, and the beginning of an exodus as hundreds and thousands of Ukrainians are leaving for other countries.

Notably, Ukraine is one of the most favoured destinations for students of developing nations. Several social media posts suggest that Africans and evacuees of other non-European, non-white ethnicities are facing racial discrimination, while trying to escape war-hit Ukraine.

Scores of non-white immigrants in Ukraine are being blocked from fleeing to safety.

Several

African

people living in the region have taken to Twitter in recent days to share their plight and the racism faced.

Footage has gone viral of African people being blocked from boarding trains and another of black girls being pushed out of train by Ukrainian guards.

TOI has not independently verified the authenticity of these videos.





In a video, viewed over 2.5 million times, several African families can be seen stranded at a railway station in Ukraine.



Some of the locals are prioritizing Ukrainians and people of non-white ethnicities are struggling to get onto buses, facing hostility or being denied at the border.

A Twitter user Damilare_arah shared a video that showed African women and children in Ukraine stranded in 3 degrees temperature.




Another user Nzekiev shared a video alleging Africans were at the border for two days, but the Ukraine Police and Army did not let them pass.


In another viral video, a Twitter user alleged that the Ukrainian security agencies threatened to shoot weaponless Africans.



A similar problem is being faced by Indian students stranded at the Poland-Ukraine border, who are allegedly being attacked and beaten.




Not just this, reporters and anchors on several international media outlets are also being seen indulging in casual racism.

US journalist Alan MacLeod put out a Twitter thread, highlighting statements with racial undertones made across news channels during the coverage of the Ukraine-Russia war.



In a TV interview, Ukraine’s deputy chief prosecutor David Sakvarelidze said he was emotional as “European people with blue eyes and blonde hair” were being killed every day.

On another news channel, both anchors and guests on a news show regularly mentioned that the outbreak of the war is doubly shocking because it is happening in “relatively civilized Europe” as opposed to the Middle East or Africa.

An anchor can be heard saying, “What's compelling is that these are prosperous, middle-class people. These are not refugees trying to get away from the Middle East or North Africa.”

The unbridled racism, even during a war, has fuelled a sense of anger among the global African and Indian diasporas.




The emphasis on the white-ness of those suffering in Ukraine has prompted many to highlight the alleged racism and relative apathy in the global response to war.






Dr Ayoade Alakija, Special Envoy, ACT WHO, said in a tweet that the Black Africans facing racism in Ukraine is unacceptable.



‘Racism is a pandemic’