The background is videos on social media in which African refugees from Ukraine reported that they were being harassed when crossing the border. From Poland it says: One helps “all people”.
Poland’s border guards have denied accusations that Africans fleeing the war in Ukraine were rejected on racist grounds.
Corresponding reports in social media are “nonsense,” said a spokeswoman for the authorities on Monday of the German Press Agency. «The officers of the Polish border guard help all people fleeing the war zone of Ukraine. Citizenship or nationality is irrelevant.” People of several dozen different nationalities are processed at the border every day, including citizens of countries outside the Schengen zone, Africa and Asia.
Videos with scenes on the Polish-Ukrainian border made the rounds on social media over the weekend, which caused outrage not only in Africa. Some African refugees had alleged that border officials on the Ukrainian side had been rudely prevented from crossing the border for days in the bitter cold and without care, while white refugees were able to cross them.
Hanna Gobeze, an Ethiopian who studied in Kyiv and is now in Poland, reported similar scenes. When she arrived at the Polish border, she clearly witnessed racism, Gobeze said. The Ukrainians were preferred by the Polish border officials, the student said. In the meantime, the Ethiopian embassy in Berlin is said to be taking care of its citizens in Ukraine.
Afghan Union “disturbed”
The African Union was “disturbed” by the reports of racism. Attempts to prevent Africans from crossing international borders during conflict are racist and a breach of international law, it said in a statement.
However, the foreign minister of the West African country of Ghana, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said on Monday that students from her country have not had any problems leaving the country so far. A total of 38 of the 220 Ghanaians who have left Ukraine so far have crossed the Polish border without any problems. More than 460 compatriots are still on their way from Ukraine to neighboring countries. The government of the East African state of Somalia also said on Monday that nothing was known about problems with Somali citizens leaving for Poland.
Thousands of young Africans are studying in Ukraine because of the low costs and good education. These are mostly students from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia and other countries.
More than 500,000 people have fled
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 500,000 people have fled to neighboring countries since Thursday – the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. This was announced by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Twitter. The number of refugees has risen by around 80,000 since Sunday evening.
UNHCR spokesman Chris Melzer said a six-figure number of people were displaced within Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion. An exact estimate of the number of internally displaced persons is currently not possible.
So far, most of the refugees have made their way to Poland. According to the Polish border guard, there have been more than 281,000 since the beginning of the war. A spokeswoman said almost 100,000 refugees crossed the border on Sunday alone.
According to UNHCR, the other important target countries are Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia.
1800 refugees arrived in Germany
1,800 refugees have reached Germany in the past few days. That said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. According to information from security circles, these are mainly Ukrainians, but also some people from other countries, such as foreign students.
The authorities in Germany are in the process of launching humanitarian aid, the spokesman said. The technical relief organization is preparing for transports and procuring relief supplies. At the EU level, there is talk of hubs, i.e. nodes where medical material and equipment should be bundled near the border with Ukraine. There should also be help for the neighboring countries of Ukraine.
Source: Stern
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