https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/are-racism-and-double-standards-driving-the-refugee-policies-in-the-ukrainian-crisis/ss-AAVmehZ?ocid=winp1taskbar
Are racism and double standards driving the refugee policies in the Ukrainian crisis?

The world has shown solidarity to over three million displaced Ukrainians that have left their country after the Russian invasion. These refugees have been received with open arms by the European Union.
However, this latest humanitarian crisis also reveals the double standard that exists when it comes to those forced to leave their country.

A few days into the crisis, African, South Asian and Middle-Eastern nationals that were residing in Ukraine at the time of the invasion witnessed prejudice from Ukrainian authorities while trying to leave the country, according to The New York Times.
“The Ukrainian border guards were not letting us through,” declared 24-year-old Nigerian doctor Chineye Mbagwu to The New York Times in a March 1, 2022, piece. Most refugees of color in Ukraine are university students like her.

However, the problem isn’t the mistreatment of people leaving Ukraine. That’s just a symptom of a bigger issue, which is the double standards refugees are subjected to in the Western world.

“It’s really emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed,” commented a BBC correspondent on Ukraine. Many on social media felt this comment revealed how the war in Ukraine was more important than other conflicts only because white people were affected.

Trevor Noah, the host of the news satirical program ‘The Daily Show’, pointed out on an early March show how different Poland and Hungary’s attitudes were just a few years back when the refugees were coming from Syria and Libya.