Editorial: Racism and the refugee crisis

The Russian invasion of Ukraine that has entered its second month has been an eye-opener. It has shown how isolated Ukraine has been in defending itself against an aggressor like Russia, and also exposed the deep-rooted fault-lines of racism in the West. Earlier this month, international media had exposed how acts of discrimination were employed against students of Indian, South African and Nigerian origin when they attempted to flee the war.

As per the Nelson Mandela Foundation report, students of colour were debarred from using transport to reach the neighbouring Poland. Many of them were singled out when they attempted to join the fleeing crowds, denied seats in buses evacuating refugees and turned away from the border too. The report highlights the manner in which the suffering of white people in conflict zones tend to get more exposure, attention and empathy as compared to the hardships endured by refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Ethiopia.

While referring to Ukrainian refugees, Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov had said ‘these are educated, intelligent people, not the refugee wave we are used to – people with dubious pasts, who could even have been terrorists.” Another Ukrainian official said, “European people with blonde hair and blue eyes are being killed every day.” Even a few journalists employed with reputed Western news media have parroted such narratives that reek of racial bigotry.

The same Poland, which is now welcoming Ukrainian refugees with open arms, is also spending millions on a border wall after refugees attempting to cross over into the country were stranded in Belarus.

Even Hungary, whose hard-line PM Viktor Orban’s administration is known to cage and starve ‘other’ refugees, has opened parts of the border to Ukrainians. It is not just the leaders, even common people in these countries have adopted the same stance. The UK, which has a chequered history of colonisation, has now assured citizens of a monthly stipend for hosting a Ukrainian refugee in their home, while German citizens have begun picketing the underground metro station platforms, waiting for the arrival of refugees from Kyiv en-masse.

To a great extent, the foreign policies employed by the US and EU have been responsible for the manner in which the global refugee crisis is spiralling out of control. It might be worth recalling how a few years ago, during the peak of the European refugee crisis, an image became symbolic of the loss of innocence and childhood for refugee children globally. The lifeless body of a three-year-old Syrian toddler named Alan Kurdi had washed ashore in Turkey after he had drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, along with his mother and sibling, when they attempted to cross over to the Greek island of Kos. Alan’s father had subsequently revealed the Canadian government had denied the family’s application for asylum.

It’s time Western nations wake up from their collective slumber and accept the realities of the modern world. Apologies and reparations can come later. What’s essential now is at least an acknowledgement that they have a responsibility towards refugees as a whole. Cherry-picking asylum seekers on the basis of their complexion is the lowest form of segregation. If the powers that be are even remotely serious about abiding by the tenets of humanity, equality, and liberty, then they must treat refugees of all ethnicities equally, without bias.