Ukraine crisis has led to ‘disturbing’ reports of racism against students: Nelson Mandela Foundation

Johannesburg: The current Ukraine crisis triggered after the Russian military operation has given rise to “disturbing” reports of racism against students of several nations, including India, who have been attempting to flee the war-torn country, the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) here said on Saturday.

According to reports in the international media in the past few days, Indian, South African, Nigerian and students of other nationalities have been debarred from using transport to reach neighbouring Poland as thousands of Ukrainians fled the country.

Some complained of being beaten up as they tried to join the fleeing crowds, purely because of their skin colour. “The conflict in Ukraine has foregrounded another global fault line: racism. There have been disturbing reports of Black people and people of colour, being denied seats in buses evacuating refugees, and turned away from the Polish border,” the NMF said.

“This illustrates once more a common global phenomenon in which the sufferings of white people in conflict situations habitually receive more attention and care,” it said, adding that white lives are seen to matter far more than the lives of others.

“Racism remains as insidious and ubiquitous as it has ever been,” it said in a statement said. The Johannesburg-based Non-profit organisation said that achieving solidarity in the global community required recognition of shared humanity and defending equally all victims of war and prejudice.

“One of the ironies of the public discourses swirling around the Ukraine invasion has been the outrage expressed by the United States, a country which, for some time, has perfected the arts of invasion, occupation, and a contemptuous dismissal of international bodies,” it said.

“Over months and years now we’ve listened to Putin’s representations of Russian and European history to justify Ukraine staying within that sphere. Whatever we may think of this logic, it informed the United States acting against Cuba in the 1960s and Grenada in the 1980s, who were within its perceived sphere of influence. —PTI