In a new post from CUNY Graduate Center, professor and CIRGH-affiliated researcher Els de Graauw contributes her perspectives on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the treatment of refugees. She writes:
I’m heartened by the swift and unified response across EU member states and beyond to impose notable sanctions in efforts to stop Russia’s violent and deadly aggression in Ukraine, but I’m alarmed by the evolving refugee situation in Europe. The U.N. estimates that already 670,000 people have fled the war violence in Ukraine, many receiving a warm welcome in Poland and other neighboring EU states. However, there are also emerging media reports of the difficulties that people of color, notably the many African and Indian students in Ukraine, have in finding safe haven. They have trouble getting on buses and trains to the border with Poland, where Ukrainian border guards have been prioritizing the crossing of Ukrainians. Unfortunately, discrimination and disparities in treatment — whether based on country of origin, political ideology, gender, or race and ethnicity — are nothing new in state responses to refugee crises, but Ukraine, too, can do better in facilitating the equitable exit of all who are searching for safety outside of Ukraine.
To read the full commentary, including , visit https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/echoes-stalingrad-experts-weigh-war-ukraine.
Els de Graauw is an associate professor of Political Science at Baruch College, deputy director of the International Migration Studies master’s program at the Graduate Center, and author of Making Immigrant Rights Real: Nonprofits and the Politics of Integration in San Francisco.