PRZEMYSL, Poland (Washington Insider Magazine) – Reporters and locals in the region told ABC News that as Ukrainians fled across Europe in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine, non-white migrants have encountered discrimination from extreme organizations monitoring the border.
Witnesses reported hundreds of self-identified right-wing nationalists marauded in Przemysl’s city center on March 1 and harassed refugees who seemed to be persons of color. While fleeing Ukraine, a large number of non-white migrants have landed in the city.
As the humanitarian situation continues, many fear that radicalism will continue to wreak havoc on people of color attempting to flee the conflict.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR) for Refugees, well over 836,000 people have left Ukraine for neighboring nations since Russian troops attacked the eastern European nation on February 24.
As of March 2, at least 453,000 of those migrants have fled to Poland, according to the UNHCR.
Witnesses stated that radicals targeted anybody who appeared to be Arab or African near the Przemysl railway station on Tuesday, where hundreds of migrants are passing through.
Extremists violently screamed at migrants to leave the nation and reportedly attacked them, according to Julian Würzer, a writer for the German publication Berliner Morgenpost stationed in Poland.
Armed police officers are seen dispersing the confrontation in online footage obtained by ABC News, which Würzer claimed lasted around 20 minutes until police came.
However, these fanatics are a minority in the nation. Local residents have made a massive effort to assist individuals escaping from across the Ukrainian-Polish border. Volunteers from all around the region have offered to shelter, clothe, and feed the numerous evacuees, according to ABC News correspondents on the scene.
Witnesses at the border tell ABC News that fanatics have been welcoming Ukrainians while swearing to “defend” Poland from non-Christians. Some fear that Russia is supporting these fanatics.
In recent years, Poland’s administration has linked itself with right-wing principles and has been chastised for its anti-refugee attitude. When Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko violently forced hundreds and thousands of Iraqi and Syrian immigrants out of his nation last year, Poland refused to let them in.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, stated that there had been cases of prejudice in the acceptance of specific Ukrainian refugees. In their attempts to evacuate, several 3rd-country nationals have reported getting stranded or being denied clearance, he added.
Grandi asserted that governmental actions do not lead to discrimination and that there should be no distinction made among non-Ukrainians and Ukrainians, non-Europeans and Europeans.
