Thread by @MetroUK

A Nigerian refugee who was studying in Ukraine has told of having to ‘fight’ onto trains due to racism while fleeing the Russian invasion.

Let's talk about it 👇🏿

trib.al/u5dbncF

Elizabeth Iloba had been in her final year of a medical degree at an institute in the east of the country when the military offensive began.

The 29-year-old described being told to wait and even to go back by guards as she tried to catch a train.

She pleaded to be let through and refused to stand aside while desperate crowds pushed their way onto services heading towards Poland.

Stuck in limbo at a hotel in Warsaw, Elizabeth feels ‘saddened’ at the discrimination she experienced and worried about other African students

‘The racism is saddening but I’m trying not think about it’ Elizabeth said.

‘I’m just saddened for the people who experienced it more strictly...other students will tell you they had to wait from morning to night, even when a train was empty they were told they couldn’t get on.’

‘There’s a lot of discrimination and it was a real struggle to get on the train,’ she said. ‘They lock the doors of the trains and say it’s only for women and children. We had to struggle and fight our way through to get onto the train'.

Elizabeth and her brother were told to stand aside as they tried to get to Lviv.

'If you were Black you were being told to wait somewhere. The police and guards were telling us we could not pass.'

When they managed to push their way onto a train, they still faced racism.

'When we were on the train people were looking at us like “woah you shouldn’t be here”, you should wait until every Ukrainian is out first,’ Elizabeth said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has acknowledged the allegations in comments posted on Twitter.

He said: ‘Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely.’

Read more about Elizabeth's struggle to get out of Ukraine here 👇🏿 trib.al/u5dbncF