🇺🇦 It’s been reported that refugees from Ukraine, who are largely white and Christian, can enter some countries more easily than those escaping violence in the Middle East or North Africa.
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🗣 Some experts say that the "magnificent solidarity and humanism" towards Ukraine illustrates a "shocking distinction" which reveals a "dehumanisation of refugees from the Middle East".
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🇪🇺 The EU has invoked a never-before-used law to help cope with the over half a million refugees fleeing Ukraine, while neighbouring Poland and Hungary have declared their borders open to Ukrainian refugees - even those without official documents.
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🇭🇺🇵🇱 However, the Polish right has historically opposed almost all immigration, and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is one of the most outspoken opponents of the EU's migration policy.
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🇺🇦 While geopolitics may be at play here -- these are refugees of a Russian invasion that Europe has universally condemned -- there is also the fact that Ukrainian people are ethnically and culturally similar to their new hosts.
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🇧🇬 Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was accused of racism earlier in the week when he implied European countries aren’t afraid of Ukrainian refugees because they are “educated” and less dangerous.
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In fact, many who fled Syria for Europe during the 2015 crisis were from the professional middle class, and only sought to escape the civil strife in their country that has left at least 350,000 people dead.
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📰 Various media organisations have also been criticised for making “unfair” comparisons between Ukrainian and MENA refugees.
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🗣 The UN Refugee Convention says refugees are not supposed to face discrimination based on race, religion or country of origin.
But this is seldom the reality.
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🇺🇦 The issue has already presented itself with those leaving Ukraine. There are reports that Africans have had issues trying to leave Ukraine.
🗣 Down the line, experts worry that the goodwill among European states could evaporate if Ukrainian refugees continue to flood in -- especially if their democratically elected government is overthrown, making it more difficult to return home.
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