AU decries reports of ill-treatment as Africans try to flee Ukraine
DAKAR (Reuters) - The African Union (AU) said on Monday that it was disturbed by reports that African citizens in Ukraine are being refused the right to cross borders to safety as they try to flee the conflict in Ukraine.
© Reuters/KAI PFAFFENBACH People fleeing the Russian invasion in Ukraine cross the border into Poland
Thousands of African and other foreign nationals, particularly students, have been scrambling to leave Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
But as hundreds of thousands throng to Ukraine's borders, overwhelming authorities in neighbouring countries, reports have emerged that Africans are being treated differently and sometimes prevented from leaving.
Several have shared videos and testimonies on social media, denouncing discrimination at train stations and border posts. Reuters has not been able to authenticate the videos.
"Reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach international law," AU Chair, Senegal's President Macky Sall, and Moussa Faki Mahamat head of AU Commission said in a joint statement.
The statement added that all people have the right to cross international borders during the conflict, and should enjoy the same rights to cross to safety from the conflict in Ukraine, notwithstanding their nationality or racial identity.
Ukraine/Russia war: FG to airlift 2,000 Nigerians, evacuation begins Wednesday
The Federal Government will from Wednesday begin the evacuation of about 2,000 Nigerians who have fled the war in Ukraine to neighbouring countries.
© REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool FILE - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who disclosed this in an interview on a Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme, revealed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had approved funds for the airlines to evacuate Nigerians.
When asked if the number of evacuees was about 2,000, and when the evacuation would take place, he said, “Wednesday hopefully…Air Peace and Max Air.”
He said there were about 8,000 Nigerians in Ukraine, 5,000 of whom were students, adding that the Federal Government had tipped Air Peace and Air Max to airlift the Nigerians who wanted to be evacuated.
Earlier, Onyeama while briefing the House of Representatives on the evacuation efforts, he stated, “We made Romania the hub and over a thousand Nigerians have crossed there. Poland has about 250, Budapest in Hungary has a similar number, Slovakia is rising rapidly. It is also around 200. There are some Nigerians in a place called Sumy close to the Russian border.
“I have been in touch with the ambassador. There are about 150 of them who are looking to cross into Russia and we have asked the ambassador in Russia to try and get a permit for them to transit to Russia hopefully, by Wednesday we will start deploying planes to start bringing the Nigerians,” the minister said.
Onyeama argued that it was not the sole duty of the Federal Government to evacuate Nigerians that were stranded abroad because this was not the global practice. He said people who use their own money to travel abroad ought to be able to return home by themselves.
He recalled that last year, some Nigerians willingly traveled to Russia for the World Cup but were unable to return home after exhausting their money.
The minister revealed that Buhari approved a flight to bring them back home.
Onyeama disclosed that family members of Nigerian diplomats in Ukraine had been taken out of the country, adding that the diplomats would also be evacuated soon.
He also stated that about four to five aircraft had been secured to airlift Nigerians from the Ukrainian neighbours.
On why the Nigerian government was not proactive like the United States which had advised its citizens to leave Ukraine over a week before the Russian invasion, Onyeama said the Nigerian diplomats in Ukraine were the ones that assured the Nigerian government that Russia would not invade.
He said no one could have known that Vladimir Putin would order his military to invade Ukraine barely days after he said he had withdrawn them from the border.
Onyeama also disclosed that the Nigerian Government was in touch with the Ukrainian authorities with the hope of going into the country immediately and starting to evacuate Nigerians. “But of course, the Russians attacked some airfields and the airspace was closed. That was not an option at all,” he stated.
According to the minister, the Nigerian Embassy “did very well; they really did extremely well.”
Onyeama also noted that both Ukrainians and non-citizens, including Nigerians, started moving towards the borders after the attack.
He said, “There are about 5,600 Nigerians there and maybe a total of about 8,000 Nigerians in Ukraine. Because there are a number of borders around Ukraine; Ukraine is the second-largest country geographically and in landmass, in Europe; so it is a big country.”
Parents protest
Parents of Nigerian students studying in Ukraine and concerned stakeholders, on Monday, staged a peaceful protest at the Russian Embassy in Abuja.
The protest was to seek the government’s intervention on their children stranded in the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The protesters, bearing placards with inscriptions such as, “Our children, our future”; “Stop war, let peace reign”, also called on the warring parties to cease fire and sue for peace.
Speaking with journalists, some parents noted that they had invested a lot in sponsoring their wards to study abroad so that they could afterward return in one piece and be useful to their families, their country, and the global community.