There tragedy happening Ukraine has many layers of unspeakable crimes but one that has not been really reported is the treatment of African students in the country
Nigerian students in Ukraine are being subjected to a tormenting reality following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.
In a series of tweets, the students have detailed their painful experiences, ranging from trekking long distances to escape the situation at hand, to experiencing racism in the face of danger.
Many Nigerians walked between 14 and 25 kilometres to seek refuge in Poland. But despite trekking for hours, Poland refused them entry.
Kachi_Nate, a Twitter user, said his friend in Ukraine could not enter Poland because she’s black.
“She just told me they’re not letting any Blacks into Poland without a visa. These are students who are legally in Ukraine. They didn’t even check their documents; just turned them back,” he said.
We spoke on a call. She said they turned all blacks without a visa back. As long as you don’t have a visa to Poland, you can’t enter. Also, they didn’t check any other document to confirm their status as international students. She’s walking 3-4 hours back to Lviv.”
On Thursday, Ukraine’s interior ministry said men between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country. Nigerians are protesting this order by heading to Poland.
Reacting, a Nigerian said, “Nigerians living in Ukraine shouldn’t be mandated to fight or partake in a war they do are not part of. We are just visitors and while we are heart broken by what is happening here, it is not our country, it is not our fight. Why are we being turned back from entering Poland. We do not want to stay there. We just want to get back home now.”
They’re taking Ukrainians in and, I think, Indians too, but not Africans.
Others say they are still subjected to racism. Nzekiev, a Twitter user, said when the train to Poland got to where he was, he and two other Africans entered first. But a few minutes later, the Ukrainian police came in and dragged them down from their cabin, as only Ukrainians were allowed.
“In the train stations here in Kyiv, it’s children first, women second, white men third, and the remaining space is occupied by Africans. This means that we have waited many hours for trains here and even if we can find a space no one wants us to cross into their country. We are stuck and expected to fight in this war”
