Minority Refugees Faced Chaos, Racism And Risk Of Trafficking After Fleeing Ukraine

Our reporter visited Hrubieszow, a Polish town on the Ukrainian border where refugees fleeing Ukraine have been given a safe haven. She found that relief work in Poland has mainly been shouldered by citizens volunteering to drive, cook or house refugees, with the help of non-governmental organisations and local authorities.

It's been weeks since reports surfaced that Black, Asian and ethnic minority people had faced chaos, racism and according to the Amnesty risk of trafficking while fleeing Ukraine.

Footage on social media in the past weeks have shown acts of discrimination and violence against African, south Asian and Caribbean students and families with young children.

Zimbabwe-born Korrine Sky was in her second-year of medical school in Ukraine, training to become a gynaecologist and obstetrician, when the war broke out in the country and she was suddenly forced to flee.

Korrine told the media that "only Ukrainian people" were able to cross the Romanian border and she therefore had to spend around 10 hours queuing in "dehumanising" conditions without even a place to sit.

And she wasn't alone. Many others complained of racial abuse and harassment as they tried to get out of the country, with border guards preventing international students from seeking sanctuary in Poland too.

Bilal, a 24-year-old student from Pakistan told Amnesty: “Some face racism, some don’t, it’s based on colour of skin and gender. My friend who is black faced racism… There is a line, if you are Ukrainian, it’s easy to get across, if not, it takes a long time. The border guards used a stick on my friend, he was hurt.”

Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Twitter here that there is no discrimination in crossing the border and a "first come first served approach applies to all nationalities".

But many denounced the statement, stating that it wasn't a true reflection of what was happening on the ground.

Ukraine has been popular with foreign students who want cheaper education overseas. Like Korrine, many have come from the UK, Middle East or Africa. Government data here shows 76,000 students from 155 nations were enrolled in Ukrainian universities.

And while some minorities were able to escape and return to their native countries because of arrangements made by their presidents - not everyone was as fortunate.

Speaking to Reuters, Syrian Orwa Staif, a Syrian who was was studying in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, he said he had to bribe a cashier to get him and three friends onto a train to the western city of Lviv, close to the Polish border.

The 24-year-old software engineering student said he hoped to travel “anywhere that is safe," adding, “It’s complicated because we do not have an embassy in Ukraine and we have no authorities to ask for support,” said Staif, whose country has been in crisis since insurgents tried to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

Arriving in Poland

But even upon arrival in Poland, volunteers were "far more visible and active than government authorities" in all the places Amnesty visited, including the reception points in the immediate proximity of Medyka, the main border crossing point used by people fleeing Ukraine, and Korczowa and in reception centres and train stations in Przemysl and Warsaw.

But with this lack of regulation from the government officials, some took advantage of both women and minorities.

Foreigners were subjected to hatred and violence on March 1 when an attack was reported in Przemysl where a group of nationalist men assaulted three Indian students who had just arrived from Ukraine, in what was reported to be a hatred-motivated attack.

It was also reported that the Wroclaw police arrested a 49-year-old Polish man who allegedly sexually abused a Ukrainian woman whom he had offered to host in his apartment after she had fled Ukraine, according to Amnesty.

While Polish human rights organisations also said that they received reports of additional cases of sexual violence, which remain confidential. They are - till this day - concerned that people fleeing Ukraine, including unaccompanied children, may have become victims of trafficking.

Irena Dawid-Olczyk, President of La Strada, a local organisation in Poland supporting victims of human trafficking, said: “Children are entering Poland from Ukraine, but authorities are not registering with whom many of them are staying. In some cases, parents send them to relatives in Poland. "In one case, an 11-year-old was travelling with her uncle, but the uncle was stopped at the border, so she travelled alone," she said.

Poland, despite its "dismal record" in its treatment of people coming from other conflict areas, have opened their borders to people from Ukraine and refugees now make up over 10% of the Polish capital's population, according to Mayor Rafal Trzaskowskj.

But the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned Europe's success in absorbing the more than 2 million people who have left Ukraine so far stems largely from the fact that many have found shelter with the big Ukrainian diaspora around the continent.

The diaspora's capacity to take in new arrivals, however, could run out, leaving many stuck at crowded reception centres that have cropped up along Ukraine's border with central Europe.

Differences

The rules that the Polish government put in place mostly refer to Ukrainian nationals and not 'non Ukranians', said a source close to the Bangladeshi embassy in Poland. Speaking to Awallprintss, the source said that in the beginning foreigners were not allowed into some of the centres, despite Polish border guards saying everyone fleeing Ukraine was entitled to enter.

“Two people of colour could not enter the facility, luckily representatives of embassies were there [who solved the matter]” the source close to the matter said, adding, "[They were allegedly told on the doorstep] that they are immigrants, not refugees."

I went to visit a sports centre in Hrubieszow, a Polish town on the Ukrainian border where refugees fleeing Ukraine have been given a safe haven.

The centre in the small town between Poland and Ukraine, in the south-east of Lublin, is home to at least 150Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children.

The carpet of cots that covered the entire gymnasium were spaced out with wooden signs naming different countries. The refugees who arrive are expected to find a place to sit according to their destination.

Football goals were moved to make space for the thousands of refugees that are in need of a safe haven. There was also the area dedicated to the “people of colour”, said Oskar Krason, who wears an orange bib which says “POC coordinator”.

Speaking candidly about the discrimination that has been taking place, he said: “Some of them even have Ukrainian passports, yet they still struggle more than others”, he said, adding, "It often happens that citizens who are keen to give a lift to Ukrainian refugees in need to reach major cities are not willing to do so with non-Ukrainians."

“The bureaucracy does not help us, but we [volunteers] manage," he admitted.

Nils Muižnieks, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, said:“Solidarity shown by volunteers in Poland has been remarkable, but without central authorities taking responsibility and concerted action, people in need of protection and assistance risk falling through the cracks.

“People fleeing Ukraine are anxious to get reliable information about shelter, transportation and their legal status, but without coordination, people risk being deprived of such essentials, and being harassed or preyed upon by criminals.

“Many non-Ukrainian people, including those in need of international protection, are unsure of their status in Poland. Everyone fleeing the conflict must be treated with humanity and offered opportunities to carry on with their lives, regardless of their passport.

“The Polish authorities must ensure that all people who have fled Ukraine are treated with the same level of respect to protect their human rights and dignity. Racism, hate speech and attacks must not be tolerated and perpetrators must be held accountable. The government must now step up to meet these challenges and keep people safe.”