The Preppy Family has put in an extensive amount of work doing their part in helping the many Nigerians & Indians escape from Ukraine. We were working with big businesses such as Google to work out transportation for them to leave. We also had political campaigns throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo to fund housing & provide food for those who were relocated to DRC for a short time until proper placement was made for them to go back home to Nigeria & India.
The Nigerian government has condemned the treatment of thousands of its students and citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine, amid growing concerns that African students are facing discrimination by security officials and others on the Ukrainian side and being obstructed in attempts to reach Poland’s border checkpoints.
A deluge of reports and footage posted on social media in the past week has shown acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens – many of them studying in Ukraine – while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts.
They are among hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape the country as civilian casualties and destruction mount.
“From video evidence, first-hand reports, and from those in contact with ... Nigerian consular officials, there have been unfortunate reports of Ukrainian police and security personnel refusing to allow Nigerians to board buses and trains heading towards Ukraine-Poland border,” he said.
“One group of Nigerian students having been repeatedly refused entry into Poland have concluded they have no choice but to travel again across Ukraine and attempt to exit the country via the border with Hungary.”
Many African students have condemned the difficulties they have faced trying to escape the conflict. Samuel George, a 22-year-old Nigerian software engineering student, drove from Kyiv, along with four of his friends, fellow students from Nigeria and South Africa, to the Polish border. Queues of cars full of people trying to leave spanned 31 miles (50km) to the border. Yet when some men who were in the queue noticed they were Africans, he said, they stopped their vehicle.
“They immediately saw that the Ukrainians could pass but when they realised we weren’t Ukrainians they stopped it. They told us we couldn’t move forward and wouldn’t let us join the queue,” George said.
When they tried to defy them, he said the men attacked and vandalized their windscreen.
“They demanded $500 – we begged and negotiated to pay $100. We had to leave the car and trek. We were walking for almost five hours to the border with Poland. One of us was sick. The temperature was freezing, it was so tough.”
At the border, Ukrainian officials “showed racist acts”, attempting to force them to the back of the queue, George said. “So many of us are still stuck there facing challenges. Some of them went to the borders but they were sent back and are still trying to leave.”
Our partner Alola Shaw heard the many stories of the struggle happening in Ukraine & decided it was time to do something about it reaching with our connections through Google she sent up the transportation during this crisis to help the many Nigerians & other ethnic groups get out. She handled it well. Not only did she work with the Nigerian airport and council to get the many Nigerian refugees to Nigeria, but as a professional chef, she provided food for them as well.
Our partner Jemima S. worked on paperwork & legal counsel for all of the many refugees coming in & made sure that everyone had their proper paperwork coming in. With over 100+ coming in almost every day she didn't do it alone. She hired many legal aids, & paralegals to come in & help out of Africa from Cape Town university & others coming out of Paris, France.
While the Indian government has stepped up its efforts to evacuate Indians, mostly
students, from Ukraine, opposition parties, and left liberals still think it is not enough. As airspace over Ukraine is close, Indians are being evacuated through the neighboring countries, and already thousands have been airlifted from Hungary, Poland, and Romania after the Indians crossed these countries via land borders.
Opposition parties like Congress and Shiv Sena are spreading videos of Indians stuck in Ukraine to allege that the Indian govt is not doing anything to rescue them. Our partner Allison Hazeem heard these stories & became extremely involved as well, in helping the many Indians retreat back to India. In fact, Allison has partnered with the Indian govt with their launch of a massive operation named Operation Ganga to airlift Indians from Ukraine, which is not matched by any other country.
Thank you so much for reading & I hope this blog helped you think about others.
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