NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 3- The European Union (EU) has denied claims of racist discrimination of Africans including Kenyans in the ongoing evacuation from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
In a joint statement Thursday, the EU said that its member states bordering Ukraine have granted every refugee unrestricted access into their countries pointing out that some isolated cases may be as a result of authorities in the border being overwhelmed by the refugee inflow.
In regards to Kenya, the EU said that over 200 Kenyan citizens were stranded in Ukraine due to the invasion.
“If there were isolated cases where some people did not make it on time or in the right conditions, this is due to the general state of confusion and overload of the authorities, who are trying their best to cope,” EU Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger said during a joint press conference at the Ukrainian embassy in Nairobi.
She said that in the event when there is a large stream of refugees during any crisis, there are always challenges in getting everyone across the borders safely.
“All the countries who are bordering Ukraine are doing their utmost to get all the refugees into safety notwithstanding their nationality, race, gender or age,” Geiger added.
The EU ambassador further stated they had embarked on efforts to help repatriate all the Ukrainians currently stuck in Kenya.
The EU member states urged the media and Kenyans to be on the lookout for disinformation and verify any kind of information before disseminating it pointing out that in some cases deliberate disinformation is being spread.
They added that the EU embassies present in the country is ready to provide accurate and factual data.
Present in the press event was Romania, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania ambassadors.
“A large proportion of these are students. Contrary to some media reports, those Kenyans who have arrived at the borders have been assisted and allowed to enter safely into EU Member States: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania,” they said in a joint statement.
The EU stated that the four EU Member States reacted immediately to the crisis, lifting or limiting restrictions to enter their territories.
They added that between February 24 and 28, over 350 000 persons crossed the Polish Ukrainian border, among them 7, 721 Africans, including 88 Kenyans.
“Slovakia immediately lifted restrictions. Within the last four days more than 4150 people from 40 African countries were able to flee from the invasion into Slovakia. Likewise, Romania and Hungary have exempted third party nationals from visa requirements for transit purposes, and those nevertheless seeking visas could obtain them at the border points,” the EU added.
Romania has supported a large number of students, including 3000 Indian students, to pass through without restrictions according to the EU.
Speaking in Nairobi, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Kenya Andrii Pravednyk said that his country was doing everything possible to ensure that everyone leaves the country safely irrespective of race, beliefs or gender.
He added that their government had resolved to prioritize women, children and the elderly in the evacuation pointing out that in some instances young people including students both foreign and Ukrainians have to wait until the priority groups cross the border first.
“There is no discrimination in Ukraine on the grounds of race, gender or belief. There were isolated cases when some African students or Pakistani students came across some impatience,” he said.
