Avellon Williams
UKRAINE – Thousands of students are trying to leave Ukraine as a war in the country enters its fifth day.
As a result of Russia’s invasion, missiles and bombs have hit cities across Ukraine, and many Ukrainians are fleeing the country.
Videos shared on social media seem to show instances in which students from the Caribbean and Africa are physically prevented from leaving the country.
They actually wanted to crush us with their bus, and even pointed guns at us while we were shouting “we are students, allow us to cross” because we didn’t allow them to cross their people first before us. We forced our way in, and they gave up. I have these on video record.
— Nze (@nzekiev) February 27, 2022
In her tweet, a Nigerian Twitter user described being stopped by Polish border guards as she attempted to flee from the country.
The video, which has been viewed over a million times, shows a crowd pleading with guards pointing weapons at them.
“We are students! We are not armed!” they shout, raising both hands to show they are not carrying weapons.
In the UK, two women, along with a partner in Ukraine, have raised over £20,000 for African and Caribbean students stranded in the country.
According to Tokunbo Koiki, one of the organisers, she became driven to start raising money and awareness after seeing videos of the situation on social media.
She said, “People are scared.” “People are really, really scared. Especially those in the major cities that are under attack right now.”
Tokunbo Koiki
#AfricansinUkraine the community of Africans in Ukraine stranded at the boarder much of them women and children. — This is happening now
— Damilare / ViF (@Damilare_arah) February 26, 2022
The lady in the video is holding a 2 month old and it’s 3°c outside we are in search of aid and hostels pic.twitter.com/Ae2Iwn4zpg
In less than two days since PayPal launched the fundraiser, more than £24,000 has been raised to help students with transportation and accommodation costs.
Tokunbo and co-organizer Patricia Daley say they have already sent around £3,000 to those in need – but their demand is growing.
Patricia said, “It’s a very difficult situation.”. “At any given moment situations can change.” Financial assistance is not the only kind of support being provided. The organizers of the fundraiser have been in close contact with students, mapping their routes out of the country, and facilitating communication between groups of students.
“We’ve had students who simply couldn’t afford a bus, we’ve been able to send them funds and they’ve been able to split the cost to make it easier, and really create a sense of community.”
Using footage shot at the Ukrainian-Polish border and their own interactions with fleeing African and Caribbean students, Tonkunbo and Patricia asserted that racism is present on the Ukrainian-Polish border.
“There’s a segregation that’s happening at the borders,” said Tonkunbo. “White Ukrainians have been allowed in with open arms, and blankets.”
Tokunbo Koiki
“This is the anti-blackness that is global. So even within a war, even within being under siege, we still have racism.”
Tokunbo Koiki
Patricia mentions that several people from Poland have offered transportation and accommodation. But, she says, “even in a time of war, that two opposing sides can come together and the common ground that they find is racism.”
“That was a very overwhelming conclusion to come to for me.” “We really have to, as a world, change how we look at humanity. Our humanity should not be transactional.”
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