Human tragedies are taking place at the Kiev train stations and the Ukrainian-Polish border crossings: while Africans report being discriminated against when entering the EU, videos show men preventing Ukrainian women from boarding the train and even pulling them out again.
Another video even shows a man standing in front of a train door with a knife and only allowing certain people to board.
A photographer told the newspaper Heute about the Polish border: “There are quite a lot of people of Arabic origin and black Africans. Like a man from Cameroon who worked in Ukraine.”
In one video, an Arabic-speaking man can be seen “selecting” the travellers and preventing many people by holding a knife from boarding. At the train stations, there are increasing conflicts between Ukrainians and migrants. The latter feel disadvantaged when leaving the country and speak of racism.
Several Polish media reported protests by the local population against the entry of the migrants. More than half a million refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Poland since the war began – some also continued their journey to Austria and Germany. In Berlin, almost one thousand people are said to have registered at the first arrival centre so far. In Vienna, 1600 people from Ukraine have arrived so far. However, considerably more are expected.