Ukranian, welcome! Middleastern, African? Get to back of the bus!

[OldieWordly]

The war in Ukraine is truly horrendous, but so are all the wars happening all around the world. It is happening in Europe, a place this country is geographically and culturally a part of. So we can emphasise more with the Ukranians and hence the outpouring of support.

But it also helps that they are white and look like the majority of this country, and therefore more support is volunteered.

Why do I as a black woman, while feeling great empathy and sorrow, also feel that other asylum seekers also fleeing war and destruction in their home countries, have been relegated to the back of the bus?

Where are the offers of a sponsored home from UK individuals/families and reimbursement of £350 a month? The right to live in the UK for up to 3 years? The right to work, or to immediately access benefits if needed?

Many of you may say, it's not about skin colour, ethnicity etc, it's about humanity. But tell me, why do so many of us black, brown or non white people often have a feeling of being treated subconciously as belonging at the back of the bus? And the welcome given to Ukranian refugees as apposed to those from Syria troubles me greatly.

Exactly this.

Also their values are much more comparable with ours, in comparison to a Middle Eastern man (for example). It's a totally different culture, and understandable that people are more welcoming of a similar culture - particularly when it comes to treatment of women.

@BewareTheLibrarians Well said 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 summed up a lot of what I was wanting to say.

A lot of people are biased and ignorant no matter the bullsh*t talk about 'Oh it's nothing to do with skin colour'

@Tillsforthrills Not the point, you've missed it. The point of you don't get it, is the narrative around it. Black/brown people were described as cockroaches and invaders, the Ukrainian refugees are refugees, as they should be described.

Yes I would also include Yemen in my short list, god only knows what's going on in there.

@Momijin

Yes, I don't understand it at all. I have been appalled by people's responses to refugees (Syrians drowning etc) and even Brexit. Now because the media tells us it is ok and good to care about Ukrainians, people are donating and offering their homes to Ukrainians refugees.

Yes The difference is shocking

Op you not suggesting some on MN are less empathic to people of a different colour are you

It’s all women and children, whilst the MEN fight for their country and not leave women and children behind.

“I know we can't house the world. However, there should be fairness in the offer of a place in the UK whether temporary or permanently.”

This is incredibly ignorant of you to write, seeing the mess Priti Patel had made with regards to helping Ukrainians come.

You are avoiding my question - please do tell me if you know even roughly how many Syrian refugees were homed here. How many non white refugees there are here. Have you thought about that and do you know the very high number that have been welcomed here, given homes, benefits, jobs?

Eastern European’s have never been welcomed here.

The difference is that the majority coming from Ukraine are women and children because the men are forced to stay and fight, not young, male economic migrants that have travelled through many safe countries to get to the UK.

@OldieWordly I couldn’t agree with you more.
I have now stopped watching the news for this very reason. Very frustrating to see a clear difference in how the media are broadcasting this situation in comparison to previous refugees.

@Katya213

It’s all women and children, whilst the MEN fight for their country and not leave women and children behind.

The men have no choice if they are of a certain age, and able bodied. But you knew this anyway, so why make out that they all want to stay and fight.

@GalactatingGoddess. I haven’t missed the point my argument is sound and my question which you haven’t answered is too. Why don’t you answer it?
“Black/brown people were described as cockroaches and invaders, the Ukrainian refugees are refugees, as they should be described.”

Cockroaches and invaders? By who?

I think this decision to give refuge to Ukrainians is far more political than you are realising.

If we (the UK and Western world) have any hope of averting WW3 we need the Ukrainians to fight hard and for a long time, to exhaust the Russian army and buy time for the sanctions to kick in, before the Ukraine are inevitably defeated by the Russians. This will give Putin his victory and place in the history books but deter him from further wars as his army and country will, hopefully, be on its knees.

For this to happen we have to do 3 things, first supply loads of weapons, second suck up the hardships caused by the sanctions and thirdly care for the women, children and elderly so the, predominantly, men keep fighting.

This isn't about sympathy or racism, it's politics.

@Katya213 Racist propaganda, sorry! Many women and children came from places like Afghanistan and Syria. Still treat like sh*t, still had people trying to sabotage their boats on the coast even when the dead body of a little child was shown. Unless anyone has forgotten? Or was that child a grown man.

Regardless, you'd want your sons to be safe would you not? And if you knew that you might not die but your sons would most certainly be shot/tortured then would you not send them away?

MN is a nonsense sometimes.

Syrian, Afghanistan refugees are offered places in Germany, France etc but they would rather sit at Calais to board a dinghy to the UK…Why?

[quote GalactatingGoddess]**@Katya213* Racist propaganda, sorry! Many women and children came from places like Afghanistan and Syria. Still treat like sht, still had people trying to sabotage their boats on the coast even when the dead body of a little child was shown. Unless anyone has forgotten? Or was that child a grown man.

Regardless, you'd want your sons to be safe would you not? And if you knew that you might not die but your sons would most certainly be shot/tortured then would you not send them away?

MN is a nonsense sometimes. [/quote]
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Out of respect for all refugees including the Ukrainians this thread should be deleted.

The lack of sympathy for Ukrainians is disturbing.

@emuloc well they certainly weren’t running that’s for sure.

@Tillsforthrills

OP have you researched yet the numbers of Bob white refugees this country has housed? I guess it doesn’t help your narrative does it?

The fact that you feel annoyance at the media’s coverage has made you feel unsympathetic to Ukrainians at the moment is ironic. Do you see the irony?

I am definitely not unsympathetic to the Ukranians' plight. I constantly think about having your life upturned in the space of two weeks and being in a war zone. I also think about the other war zones and people needing to flee. I think about those that fled the Taliban in Aghanistan and are in camps in Pakistan, wanting to join family here. But alas, there is no open door welcome for them here. They have to jump through hoops to get a visa, and then the numbers allowed in are not limitless.

Why the difference? A clear case of othering, they are not like us, we can't have too many of them. Again why? It's colour/ethnicity of course.

[quote Katya213]@emuloc well they certainly weren’t running that’s for sure.[/quote]
They were not allowed too.

[quote MangshorJhol]There was a war in Syria. Russia was closely involved in it. It created a massive refugee crisis. I don’t know why people are saying the Syrians ‘chose’ to leave.
This happened. Trigger warning: very distressing photos.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghouta_chemical_attack[/quote]
Agree too
The reporting was very different

I have seen this so often now: People from THIS place have the right values and THAT place don't. Kind of sad that if my brown skinned son ever becomes a refugee, a neo Nazi skinhead might be chosen over him because he might have the right values. Or the right skin colour.

@Tillsforthrills
this is the coverage I remember and the negativity around black/brown/Muslim refugees

The majority of Afghan refugees were taken in by Pakistan.
The numbers were outstanding.

It's a European country and we're part of Europe...... Of course we're going to prioritise taking them in. In the same way that the vast majority of refugees will go to their neighbouring country because it's familiar to them.

Don't worry tho, despite being white they'll still be viewed with suspicion and exploited if they're treated anything like the Polish and Romanian people I know are.

Brown, black etc people have plenty of countries to flee too, in their own subcontinents, before reaching Europe.

Ukranians? Only Europe.

Do you see any non-European countries lining up to take refugees?

That's the difference. Also Ukranians are expected to go home as soon as all this is over. It's actually 'refuge'. All the others will be staying permanently. In fact Ukrainians are being given only a 3 year visa, they're actually being treated worse.

p.s. im a brown immigrant