Photo credit: Mehdi Chebil

Another petition on this issue which has a lot more signatures

Since the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military hundreds of thousands of people have needed to flee Ukraine. More than 500,000 so far according to UNHCR. While the European Union has agreed to accept Ukrainian nationals in mass without any visa requirements, this has proven to be more complicated for non-Ukrainians who are not white which illustrates a double standard based on discrimination. Since the morning of the 27/02/2022 reports on social media have emerged showing that for non-white people living in Ukraine who wished to flee it has been much more complicated to cross the border especially into Poland and enter the EU - Schengen area.

Document with sources

It is important to note that this is not to diminish the support which Ukraine and its citizens deserve in this challenging time. However, while that support is legitimate and needed, support is just as much needed for foreigners trying to flee Ukraine. The double standards policies are not acceptable.

This petition is to demand concrete tangible action from the European leadership and the United Nations as this goes against articles in both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Both organisations have been very quiet since this issue of racial discrimination emerged during the weekend. This also further highlights the greater issue of racial discrimination on the European continent as a whole and in the world.

So far one of the only indirect responses to this issue has been by Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who mentioned in a statement to the UN Security Council on Monday evening: "I encourage governments to continue to maintain access to territory for all those fleeing: Ukrainians, of course, but also third-country nationals living in Ukraine – people there to work and to study, and in some cases people that are in Ukraine as refugees – and all of whom are now similarly forced to escape the violence. At this critical juncture there can be no discrimination against any person or any group." This subtle statement is a starting point, however, much more action is needed.