Ukraine Crisis: Europe’s double standards towards refugees
March 24, 2022 — LAURA BUCHER
With the Russian military forces invading Ukraine on the 24th of February, we are witnessing the biggest and largest migration flow since World Word II. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has declared that more than 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Moldova. The European Union has adopted a unified, fast, and incredibly supportive response to tackle this unprecedented refugee crisis. In fact, European countries have triggered the so-called ‘Temporary Protection Directive’, intended to operate when the asylum system is overwhelmed, to give Ukrainians the right to live and work in Europe for up to three years. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “Everyone who has to flee Putin’s bombs will be welcomed with open arms.”
Furthermore, Ukrainians will have access to education, housing, and medical assistance. Specifically, the Polish government has opened its borders to most of the Ukraine refugees, welcoming 1.8 million people since the beginning of the conflict. “Anyone fleeing from bombs, from Russian rifles, can count on the support of the Polish state”, Mariusz Kaminski, the Minister of Public Affairs, recently claimed. Not only national authorities and NGOs, but also Polish citizens and local organisations have shown incredible solidarity towards Ukrainians forced to flee their country. Many volunteer groups are putting their effort into providing accommodation, car lifts, children’s toys, and more, to people arriving at the borders.
Similarly, the Western press has expressed shock and empathy to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The public’s attention on Ukraine-Russia war has been enormous compared to other’s recents wars, as found by a report from NPR.
“What has been disturbing is the dominant Western media coverage portraying the conflict with racist biases that normalised war in non-European regions.”
However, during the intensification of the conflict, the fair and welcoming treatment towards Ukrainian citizens has revealed different forms of racism against non-Western migrants. What has been disturbing is the dominant Western media coverage portraying the conflict with racist biases that normalised war in non-European regions. For instance, the CBS correspondent Charlie D’Agata has made troubling comparisons between the current conflict and recent conflicts in the Middle East by stating “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades, this is a relatively civilised, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully too — city, one where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen.” This observation seems to legitimise conflicts in ‘uncivilised’ countries, fueling a distinction between refugees from one country to refugees from another. Another discriminatory comment has been made by the former deputy general prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze, for the BBC: “it’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed”. A further hurtful message that embedded a deeply differential European approach on migration in the current crisis, compared to other migration crises, is illustrated by the statement of the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who said “These are not the refugees we are used to…these people are Europeans”. These comments further reveal institutionalised racism that contributes to dehumanising non-white people’s suffering in non-Western conflicts.
In contrast to the warm welcome towards Ukrainians, Poland is also remembered for its anti-refugee sentiment. Only a few months back, the Polish government employed a different treatment to refugees fleeing from Middle Eastern countries, mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. In November 2021, thousands of asylum seekers were halted at the Belarus-Polish border, when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had forcibly pushed them out of Belarus. In turn, Polish guards violently pushed them back into Belarus, without providing them with accommodations and food. In fact, Polish authorities had imposed a state of emergency and are preventing aid from reaching the border areas. Dozens of people, including children and women, died due to the freezing temperatures. Poland also started to invest €350 million to build a wall at the frontier between Poland and Belarus to prevent asylum seekers from entering the country. This contrasting experience occurring within the same Polish territories highlights the extent to which the European refugee crisis is subjected to huge inequities.
“In contrast to the warm welcome towards Ukrainians, Poland is also remembered for its anti-refugee sentiment.”
Likewise, similar inequities have been encountered by people of colour fleeing Ukraine, mainly African and Asian international students. Before the war outbreak, it was reported that roughly 20.000 African and Asian students were living in Ukraine to pursue education. Since President Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24th, many non-white refugees have been stopped at Ukrainian train stations and the borders of neighboring countries, such as Poland. Various reports by independent newspapers have also denounced verbal and physical abuse against them. On March 1, several far-right nationalists harassed non-white refugees at Przemyśl station, where many refugees have been arriving from Ukrainian cities since the Russian invasion. Moreover, Polish police have warned that one Facebook group named Przemyśl Always Polish (Przemyśl Zawsze Polski) has been spreading fake news regarding migrants coming from the Middle East committing crimes.
“The European cooperative response towards Ukrainian citizens can serve as a lesson for future humanitarian crises.”
The United Nations has admitted that non-European refugees are facing discrimination. “There has been a different treatment (...). There should be absolutely no discrimination between Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians, Europeans and non-Europeans. Everyone is fleeing from the same risks.” Filippo Grandi stated - the High Commissioner of UNHR. This has led to several organisations, such as Black Woman for Black Lives, striving to provide safe routes to Africans who are currently fleeing the Ukrainian conflict, as reported by NBC News.
The supportive European response to the Ukraine humanitarian crisis is understandable and must continue, as well as the solidarity of the neighbouring countries. However, European governments and migration policies should acknowledge and confront the double standards that have been inflicted on refugees. It is imperative -however arduous- to make the European narrative on migration less mingled with racism, Anti-Muslim sentiment, Eurocentrism, and white suprematism. Refugees, regardless of their nationality, should be ensured with food, protection, and shelter. The European cooperative response towards Ukrainian citizens can serve as a lesson for future humanitarian crises, to guarantee equal international protection to anyone fleeing from war conflicts.
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