Africans in Ukraine are reporting racist treatment in their quest to escape the war, saying they are being blocked from boarding trains and prevented from crossing borders to neighboring countries for safety.
They are documenting their experiences on social media, posting and voicing videos from train stations and border points using the hashtag #AfricansinUkraine.
“These people left without taking the blacks,” one person says in a video shot at a train station, showing people with luggage. “Everyone is stranded. This really too bad.”
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 using land, air, and naval forces.
There are no visible efforts by African governments to get their nationals to safety
People are fleeing Ukraine. Although some African countries have condemned the invasion, African governments have largely failed in organizing evacuations of their citizens from Ukraine, where thousands of Africans study.
With no visible efforts by their governments to get them to safety, Africans have turned to social media to highlight their plight and make SOS calls, in a similar approach to that of Indians stranded in Ukraine.
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