By: Melissa Frasco
If you’re like me, you have grown up your entire life in the United States. When I was in school we always talked about wars as if they were so far removed, even ones ongoing wars like Afghanistan and Iraq. This idea of being removed was beyond a geographical sense. Unless you were supporting the troops or a loved one had entered the armed services you were still far removed the war (aside from hearing about it on the evening news).
This leads me to Ukraine and how I am making sense of the current situation, as a student and as someone who is constantly learning. I will start with the second point, sometimes it feels like every time you turn on the news you are learning about a new human rights violation. There are so many stories that need your empathy, but who has enough of that to go around? On the other side of this we have people like myself, who are now entering or working in the fields of mental health, social services, immigration/migration, human rights, political science, and others. We are seeing what we have learned in history class happening right before our eyes. We are already in a global pandemic, we are seeing social movements gain speed, and we are teetering back and forth between waiting for the world to feel (somewhat) normal again and being terrified that it never will. This article cannot tell you what will happen or how things will go, but I hope it helps makes sense of some of our feelings.
Whether any of us were truly aware of the situation in Ukraine before Russia’s invasion we now no longer have a choice. We are now aware of not only the invasion but also the twisting narrative that has left Ukraine to defend itself. There are measures being taken for civilians to take up arms for their country and even those who cannot fight are changing road signs confuse invading Russian troops. These pro-Ukraine slogans are being found on physical and electronic signs, such as one reported by VICE that showed an electric car charging station that alternates between phrases such as “Glory to Ukraine” and “Putin is a dickhead.” In another amusing feat we see roadside billboards that have stopped relaying traffic information. One billboard found in an NPR article showed a roadside billboard that now says "Putin lost, the entire world is with Ukraine,". And even myself who was previously unfamiliar with Ukraine’s situation I find myself rooting for them harder than ever. Here Ukraine is the underdog standing up to Putin’s goliath of a country.
Something we must not lose sight of here is that Ukraine is not the first country to do this, and that the people of Russia are not all complicit with Putin’s invasion. It’s very easy to get riled up and dump out all the Russian sounding vodkas at the liquor store. The symbolism is real and tangible in these acts yes, but we need more direct aid. Take the example of Poland opening its borders to all Ukrainian refugees to come without documentation and paperwork. While people are fleeing for their lives it seems trivial to ask them for the required paper work. Although I say this with sarcasm there are similar situations where people who are preparing to flee are required to have their paperwork, documentation, passport, and any other important papers they may cross into another country for safety. In fact, refugees have been turned away, sent back to violent situations, and died while trying to cross without proper documents. You can look at any number of floating graveyards, such as the Rio Grande or the Mediterranean in Europe. Even for the migrants in boats who are hoping to be picked up and taken to safety (as typically they are sailing in rafts) these migrants have been left to drown and die at sea. In 2013 we saw this exact tragedy play out, where Syrian refugees were in danger and Italian authorities had been made aware, and yet 268 refugees died at sea, including 60 children. Instead of a prompt rescue response Italian authorities showed up hours later after the initial distress call, only able to save the small number of survivors. Read more about this incident in an article by the Washington post.
Just under a decade apart we have the difference of Ukrainian refugees being welcomed with open arms and no paperwork requirements versus Syrian refugees being left to drown in the open sea by Italian authorities. These examples are not meant to bash Italy or praise Poland, but rather for us to take a critical look at how countries interact with refugees and asylum seekers. No receiving country has perfected their refugee and immigrant policies. Just as we have seen Ukrainians welcomed with open arms, we have seen evidence online of Black and Brown Ukrainians being passed over for the “Ukrainians first” idea, which prioritizes typically White native born Ukrainians over their Black immigrant counterparts. As reported by NBC news African immigrants who are in Ukraine for work, schooling, or immigration related circumstances are being left behind. As one NBC article shared the experience of a student, named Alexander Somto Orah who tried to board multiple trains leaving Ukraine. First the passports of the those getting on the trains were only those of white Ukrainians who were allowed to board. When Orah and his friends got on a second train they were escorted off because of the “Ukrainians first” idea, which also asserts that non-Ukrainian people cannot leave before native Ukrainians. Orah and his other friends had to tell a conductor face to face “Open the door or we die” they fought their way to the Polish border for the rest of the trip. You can read more on Orah’s account in the original NBC articlehere.
Moving forward, the issues discussed here will not be reconciled overnight. Migration occurs within in unequal system, that will typically favor those who hold space at the top of the social hierarchy. Whether there are refugees and asylum seekers or students who are immigrants in the country they are studying in, they will all be exposed an immigration system that is inherently unequal. Of course, in the moment Ukraine and surrounding countries are still very much in crisis mode, but countries must consider in the future for the ways to potentially limit the effects of unjust and value laden policy. There is no law in Ukraine that prohibits certain non-native Ukrainians from fleeing and in what order but still we see this de facto sentiment upheld. This sentiment has made it notably more difficult for non-native Ukrainians to flee the same situation. We cannot be surprised when unequal systems reproduce inequalities, we must have proactive approaches to lessen the effects of these inequalities in crisis.
From the U.S. embassy stating that those who are citizens of the United States and are stuck in Ukraine have the ability to flee to Poland without the need for documentation.
Orah’s story leaving Ukraine
VICE electric charging stations displaying pro-Ukrainian messages
NPR Ukrainians altering road signs
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/01/1083644721/ukraine-russian-soldiers-road-signs-billboards