The 27-member European Union (EU) has historically prided itself on its commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and has on various occasions admonished both developing and developed countries for falling short of its standards. In fact, two years ago, it adopted a global human rights sanctions regime (including travel bans, asset freezes, and restricted access to the bloc’s funds) to target individuals, entities, states, and non-state actors accused of human rights violations worldwide. However, the selective bias that underpins this values-based approach has been laid bare during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, which has exposed the EU’s divergent treatment of refugees from different parts of the world.
The racism against non-Ukrainian refugees reported on their border is about 'white supremacy narratives', argues women’s rights activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu.@_NatashaDevon | @SholaMos1 pic.twitter.com/uenZdg3byY
— LBC (@LBC) March 6, 2022
Neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria have readily opened their borders for Ukrainian refugees, providing food, shelter, and medicine. Yet, students and immigrants from countries such as India, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Nigeria who are fleeing the same war have not been met with the same warmth. In fact, many have been turned away from borders or even refused entry on trains leaving Ukraine, a country that houses 80,000 such students. Others have claimed that they were kicked, beaten, and thrown out of trains.
In response, the African Union released a statement saying that it is “disturbed” by reports that its “citizens are being refused the right to cross the border to safety.” Likewise, Kenya, Ghana, and Gabon raised their voices against discrimination during a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting. Yet, despite their claims being corroborated by the UN, the EU dismissed these concerns out of hand. It retorted that it “regrets the incorrect and skewed media reporting on this issue” and claimed that “deliberate disinformation is being spread.”
However, a closer look at the comments made by politicians across Europe tells a different story.
For instance, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev remarked that the Ukrainian refugees are educated, intelligent people, unlike “the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists.” Similarly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refused to allow Middle Eastern and African refugees to enter Europe via Hungary last December but has now opened his borders to Ukrainians.
The sentiments behind this disparate treatment were underscored by Spain Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s far-right Vox party, who said the Ukrainians are “real refugees” who should be “welcomed.” He contrasted them with their Muslim counterparts, whom he described as of a “military age” and as people who have “crossed our borders trying to destabilise and colonise Europe.”
"These are real refugees: women, children, and elderly should be welcomed in Europe. Now everyone should understand the difference between these refugees and the invasion of Muslim youth of military age who have crossed our borders trying to destabilize and colonize Europe" pic.twitter.com/V3P64p0t92
— Jairo I. Fúnez, PhD (@Jairo_I_Funez) March 3, 2022
Moreover, this discrimination extends beyond rhetoric and has tangible impacts. Denmark, for example, announced that it will not seize the jewellery of Ukrainian refugees, unlike the policy it has imposed on Syrian and African refugees. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reasoned that “Ukraine is in our immediate region. It is part of Europe. It’s in our backyard.”
According to the UNHCR, 2,698,280 Ukrainians have fled to neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion began on February 24. Poland alone has taken in 1,655,503, followed by Hungary with 246,206. Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have each welcomed over 100,000 Ukrainians as well.
On the other hand, during the 2021 migration crisis, when thousands of Afghan, Syrian, and Iraqi refugees camped at the Poland-Belarus border in the hope of entering the EU, Poland instituted a ‘pushback’ policy to prevent migrants from entering the country. In September 2021, Poland declared a state of emergency along the Belarus border, blocking humanitarian access to the region.
This breaks my heart 💔
— Muzhgan Samarqandi (@MuzhganSmrq) March 1, 2022
Non-Ukrainian refugees turned away at gunpoint by Ukrainian troops & Polish police.
Meanwhile Bulgarian PM: “These [Ukrainian] refugees are not people who could have been terrorists”.
Another war is being waged: against non-Ukrainian refugees. pic.twitter.com/gGdFOCJ5nV
The bloc’s faltering commitment to human rights when it comes to refugees was documented by Human Rights Watch in its latest World Report, which states, “EU countries made little progress on developing rights-respecting migration policies or sharing responsibility equitably for migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, showing consensus only on sealing borders and externalising responsibility at the expense of human rights.” Moreover, although the EU has sought to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and its targeting of civilians, it continues to cooperate with and support countries that commit equally heinous crimes and are perpetrators of refugee crises, such as Libya, Turkey, and Lebanon.
Aside from the impact this evidently wildly dissimilar care could have on refugees from different parts of the world, this hypocrisy could also have far-reaching implications on the bloc’s attempts to present a values-based alternative to states like Russia and China, particularly in emerging markets like sub-Saharan Africa.
In a reference to China’s alleged practise of ‘debt-trap diplomacy,’ EU officials have previously touted the potential of the bloc’s Global Gateway Initiative as a project with rules that are “intertwined with political values,” promising that there will be no “white elephants” or “debt traps.” China’s BRI partners have clear misgivings about the Initiative and China’s predatory intentions. However, the EU’s hypocrisy on human rights means that these developing nations have little reason to believe the bloc’s offer of a more ‘ethical’ or less manipulative partner.
In fact, certain African nations have hinted that the West’s excessive and duplicitous focus on “lecturing” and establishing ideological symmetries has created a disconnect and is merely pushing them further into the hands of China and Russia. In this respect, the Ukraine crisis has further eroded the EU’s credibility as a self-anointed purveyor of the principles of democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. Most if not all nations around the globe desire to maintain a certain level of autonomy and do not take kindly to perceived interference in their internal affairs. Keeping this in mind, several developing countries prefer to deal with countries—like China and Russia—that do not constantly remind them of their human rights obligations despite themselves falling foul of these same lofty standards.
The EU could feasibly attribute this discriminatory treatment of refugees from non-Western countries to rogue actors from eastern Europe, such as Poland and Hungary, which have historically been at odds with the bloc over the rule of law and human rights. Both countries are governed by right-wing leaders and have long espoused unabashedly racist and xenophobic reasons for their anti-immigrant stances, refusing to meet the bloc’s requirements on taking in refugees and asylum seekers.
EU announces it has agreed unanimously amongst all member countries to take in Ukrainian refugees fir up to 3 years without asking them to first apply for asylum. Just been announced following a meeting of EU Interior ministers
— Katya Adler (@BBCkatyaadler) February 27, 2022
In fact, the EU has already attempted to distance itself from such members by extending the ‘Temporary Protection Directive’ to non-Ukrainian nationals fleeing Ukraine, thereby granting temporary and immediate protection to people from non-EU countries who have been forced to leave their country due to armed conflict, violation of their human rights, and endemic violence. However, it is unclear whether the damage to its ties with developing non-Western countries has already been done. It could be argued that if those same countries are willing (or rather have no choice but to) ignore China’s debt-trap diplomacy, then they are unlikely to scupper lucrative deals with the EU over the bloc’s discriminatory treatment of refugees from different parts of the world. Regardless, the reputational damage the Ukraine war has caused has further eroded the EU’S credibility as a protector of human rights and its values-based approach to diplomatic, strategic, and trade and investment ties, and has inadvertently lent greater credence to the exploitative but seemingly more transparent approach of countries like China and Russia.