After days of walking and queuing in the freezing cold, the trio say they were discriminated against by border guards, split up despite their brother being vulnerable with a disability, and subjected to verbal and physical attacks.
“Immigration guards, both male and female, called us names like n*gger and Black slut; they referred to my brother as a monkey. One male guard beat me so savagely, and then my period came which only added to the humiliation I was going through. I was enduring the pain of the attacks but couldn’t cry. ‘Are you seriously attacking a woman? I asked the guard. People were trying to intervene and shouting at them to stop. I was really disgusted. I have never experienced someone just assaulting me for nothing,”
Jeancy, Congolese student refugee
The siblings say they experienced discrimination at the Poland border in Ukraine where they queued for days, were segregated from white Ukranian refugees and regularly sent to the backs of queues when they did make it to the front.
Eventually Jeancy and her sister Nahomy, 26, were allowed past the first gate but were forced to leave their younger brother Israel, who doesn’t speak English and has a physical disability sustained during a racist attack in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion, behind.
When he was eventually reunited with his sisters, Jeancy was horrified by the bruises on his face and worsened limp followed by confirmation that he had been beaten outside while separated from them.
Meanwhile, Nahomy was gun-butted in her stomach several times by a guard, according to her sister; she then lost consciousness and was hospitalised at the Provincial Hospital St. Padre Pio in Poland from Sunday 27 February to Wednesday 2 March.
“We are all traumatised at this point and I just realised just how much it was after it happened,” Jeancy continued. “You know when it’s like you’re under a illusion and you’re hoping everything is fine in the moment? It was awful – so much so that I don’t know if I ever want to step foot in Ukraine again – my brother and sister feel the same.
“My brother doesn’t even want to hear the name of the country. he doesn’t watch the news, he doesn’t want to be reminded about what happened in any way, shape or form.”
related news; Ukraine’s racist treatment of student refugees.
Indian students in Sumy board buses to safer zone
“The evacuation from Sumy has started‼ There was finally some good news. All Indian students will be evacuated from Sumy on Tuesday itself. They will be taken to a safe location from where they will be brought to India,” said Anshad Ali, a student coordinator.
Organizations like the Lviv Center for Urban History, Fight for Right, BOCTOK-SOS and the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights are providing everything from food and transportation to shelter for those fleeing the conflict. Share information online using the hashtags #AfricanInUkraine and #BlackInUkraine. A trio of women, Korrine Sky, Tokunbo Koiko and Patricia Daley, are among those who have stepped up to help Africans stranded in the country or desperately trying to flee. The women formed Black Women for Black Lives, and provide Africans and Caribbeans in the area with information on the safest routes through areas where they might face discrimination while trying to flee.
