Ukraine Crisis | As non-citizens also flee war, some report mistreatment

PRZEMYSL, Poland (AP) — People fleeing the war in Ukraine for the safety of European border towns include citizens of countries in Africa, Asia and the Mideast, people whose lives have been upended along with those of Ukrainians but who in some cases say they are experiencing mistreatment.

The trains and buses taking people west to Poland, Romania, Hungary and other European Union nations are carrying significant numbers of foreign students, workers and others who considered Ukraine home before Russia invaded its neighbour last week.

At a refugee centre set up in Bucharest, Romania's capital, some Indian citizens told the AP on Tuesday that Ukrainian border guards gave fellow Ukrainians priority in getting out of the country and attempted to physically push non-Ukrainians back.

Vishwajeet Kumar, a 24-year-old medical student, said he heard gunfire and saw people faint during a 20-hour wait at the Romania-Ukraine border.

Kamal Thakur, a 34-year-old from Punjab, India, described his own ordeal trying to enter Poland, saying Ukrainian guards threatened and sometimes beat Indians with sticks.

“They said it was because we are Indian, and they said our prime minister is pro-Russia and not pro-Ukraine,” Thakur told the AP from the safety of Przemsyl, a Polish border town.

Ahmed Ibrahim, a 23-year-old Egyptian, arrived in Poland with his cat in a carrier late Monday, feeling stunned and sick after days of travel. He said he had studied medicine in Ukraine for five years and had only one year left. Ibrahim had no idea what his future holds or even what his next steps are.

Some non-Ukrainians have complained that they have waited longer in line to cross the Polish border than Ukrainians and in some cases felt treated poorly.

There have been some reports that Africans, in particular, have been treated badly by Ukrainian border guards.

Cihan Yildiray, a 26-year-old from Turkey who has been working in Kyiv, said Ukrainians passed through the border checkpoint more easily. He said he saw black people and individuals of Arabic origin being beaten by Ukrainian guards.

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