English Article

Evacuation and Racism

‘Indian evacuees facing racism’

The Ukraine crisis triggered after the Russian military operation has given rise to “disturbing” reports of racism against students of several nations, including India, who have been attempting to flee the war-torn country, the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) here said on Saturday. According to reports in the international media in the past few days, Indian, South African, Nigerian and students of other nationalities have been debarred from using transport to reach neighbouring Poland as thousands of Ukrainians fled the country. Some complained of being beaten up as they tried to join the fleeing crowds, purely because of their skin colour. “The conflict in Ukraine has foregrounded another global fault line: racism. There have been disturbing reports of Black people and people of colour, being denied seats in buses evacuating refugees, and turned away from the Polish border,” the NMF said. “This illustrates once more a common global phenomenon in which the sufferings of white people in conflict situations habitually receive more attention and care,” it said, adding that white lives are seen to matter far more than the lives of others. “Racism remains as insidious and ubiquitous as it has ever been,” it said in a statement said. The Johannesburg-based Non-profit organisation said that achieving solidarity in the global community required recognition of shared humanity and defending equally all victims of war and prejudice. “One of the ironies of the public discourses swirling around the Ukraine invasion has been the outrage expressed by the United States, a country which, for some time, has perfected the arts of invasion, occupation, and a contemptuous dismissal of international bodies,” the group said. India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.