Nelson Mandela Foundation redflags racism against students stranded in Ukraine

New Delhi, March 6

Students from India and several other nations have experienced “disturbing” racism while attempting to flee war-hit Ukraine, the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) has said.

Referring to the many videos in which coloured students from the Indian subcontinent and Africa were pushed away from trains and buses in Kyiv and Kharkiv, the NMF said this once again illustrated a common global phenomenon in which the “sufferings of white people in conflict situations habitually receive more attention and care”.

The NMF’s observations came at a time when Hardeep Puri and VK Singh, Ministers in charge of evacuation, said Operation Ganga was in its closing stages. Another Minister Kiren Rijiju is on his way back from Slovakia.

But 1,700 Indian and African students remained trapped in Sumy amidst intensified shelling and breakdown of water supplies.

The Indian Embassy in Ukraine said a team had been stationed in Poltava city to coordinate the safe passage of 700 Indian students in Sumy to western borders and advised them to be ready to leave at short notice.

The MEA said the Red Cross had managed to reach some of the civilians in the besieged city from where Indian students had earlier posted videos that showed them gathering snow to drink. A local Ukrainian newspaper said the government was providing free food and dry rations to foreign students, who were safe.