“Ukrainians are treated better than other war refugees”

Ukrainians who fled their homeland before the Russian invasion are treated better than those who were forced to leave their homeland by other wars.

Europe’s most important human rights group issued this statement on Thursday. It called on member states to support everyone equally.

The Council of Europe’s Commission on Racism (ECRI) said that “admirable efforts” had been made to support Ukrainians. However, the treatment of people from Ukraine had been different. Ethnicity was an important factor. For example, housing conditions for Roma with Ukrainian citizenship were worse than those for other Ukrainians in the same situation.

The African Union expressed concern over reports that African citizens are being denied the right to cross the border in Ukraine.

ECRI added that there are also differences in the quality of reception centres and services provided to Ukrainians, which are better than those provided to refugees from other countries.

When asked whether there was more solidarity with Ukrainians because the majority was white, ECRI President Bertil Cottier said: “When people are more or less like you, it is always easier.”

According to ECRI, all displaced persons should be offered appropriate assistance, regardless of their nationality, skin colour or religion.

According to ECRI, anti-Ukrainian hate incidents were reported, but overall public discourse remained one of solidarity and support. Hostile narratives, including from politicians, were more common towards people from other parts of the world.

There are around six million displaced Ukrainians throughout Europe.

With contributions from Reuters