Jamaican student ‘held at gun point’ while stranded in Ukraine
Among the Black groups seeking sanctuary in neighbouring countries were some 24 Jamaican students
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Your support makes all the difference.Global activists and politicians have expressed concern over a Jamaican student who was held at gun-point while fleeing conflict in Ukraine as communities continue to condemn racial treatment of Black refugees at the borders.
This comes as the country’s government launched a hotline to assist ethnic minority people trying to flee Russian attacks amid widespread backlash over discrimination.
Among the Black groups seeking sanctuary in neighbouring countries were some 24 Jamaican students who have since been evacuated by its government after being forced to walk 20km to safety in freezing conditions.
The students’ bus from Lviv to the Polish border was attacked by an angry mob on Sunday, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, and they opted to walk instead of turning back. During the trek, two of the group fell and one received medical care in an ambulance.
Prior to their voyage, one of the group members was reportedly threatened with a gun by a “white Ukrainian” in an incident described as racist and ordered to disembark a train to Lviv, temporarily splitting him up from his peers.
During an interview with local Jamaican cable network TVJ Monday, his pal told anchor Giovanni Dennis: “a close friend of mine, he experienced it (racism)” while trying to escape Russian attacks in Ukraine.
“While getting on the train, a Ukrainian actually put a gun to his head and told him that he needs to get off the train so he couldn’t get to Lviv,” he continued. “So because of that his journey got delayed and he had to come back to the train station another day in order to get on a train to Lviv.”
Speaking to The Independent, Dr Angela Brown Burke, chairperson of Jamaica’s opposition party (PNP), expressed concern about the young person’s gun-point ordeal and overall plight of the students.
“[Imagine] You leave Jamaica for a better life and to study, then you are confronted with something like that,” she said. “We know that the basis of that would have been a racist attitude and it must be so devastating.”
“Moreover, listening to the account of our students in Ukraine and all that they went through - the terror and trauma - also the long journey in that kind of weather, I think one can only imagine how harrowing that must be,” she said, adding that supporting the students in continuing their vocational development and accessing psychological support must be a priority.
On Wednesday, the renowned human rights lawyers Ben Crumb and Jasmine Rand, who represented the family of George Floyd, launched a coalition which filed an urgent appeal to the United Nations on behalf of Black people facing discrimination in Ukraine while trying to flee Russian attacks.
The People’s National Party echoes the calls for an end to all racist treatment at the Ukraine borders and endorses the coalition launched on Wednesday by George Floyd’s family lawyers, the chairperson added.
“We are particularly pleased to see MP Anthony Hylton and Ms Rosalean Hamilton from Jamaica have joined the coalition. It’s also extremely important that the world strongly condemns these racist actions.
“Our sympathy for the Ukrainian people in this conflict remains unstinting; at the same time we cannot allow that to dilute our vigilance in resisting racism against Black students who have been trying to leave Ukraine under these circumstances.”
During a press conference about the coalition on Wednesday, Ben Crump said “This is an urgent matter and the UN has the power to ring the alarm. For whatever reasons we don’t think that alarm has been rang. How many more guns have to be put to the heads of descendants of Africans, how many have to be told to get off the train or go to the back of the bus before the UN says ‘This is an urgent matter’?”
“When you’ve got ocular proof then that’s a pretty powerful element of proof - I don’t know what else we have show the United Nations.”
Professor Rosalea Hamilton, Founding Director of the Institute of Law and Economics in Jamaica, told the conference, hosted by Mr Crump and Ms Jasmine Rand, that the country awaits more details of their “horrible experiences” and will share them moving forward.
“Jamaicans have watched with deep concern the plight of our students in Ukraine,” she said.
“It is imperative that we stand strong and we built a strong coalition to fight against all forms of racial discrimination facing people African descent across the world. In 2022, we ought not to be fighting for basic human rights and being treated as human beings; the fact that we’re doing this speaks volumes to where we are.”
Professor Hamilton then proceeded to quote lines from ‘Get Up, Stand Up’, a reggae song composed by Peter Tosh and Bob Marley - musicians who she described as “two of Jamaica’s strongest human rights advocates”.
“We are ready to get up, stand up and stand up for our rights,” she added.
Over half a million people have fled Ukraine as violence escalates, the UN has said.
Also speaking at the press conference, Anthony Hylton, Jamaican member of parliament and attorney, added: “What we’re witnessing is Black people of African descent fighting two wars - one against the Russians and the other against racial discrimination in Ukraine itself and Polish law enforcement officers.
“We recognise of course that we’re not just taking about people of African descent we’re talking about minorities. We see the video evidence and hear the stories of what has happened to people of Asian heritage - and of course equally abhor that kind of treatment of people of other ethic groups.”
“We particularly want the UN to hold accountable those governments who, either through policies or practices, are encouraging discriminating against people,” Mr Hylton continued. “I think it’s high time the international community and the UN in particularly step into this space, because this is not the first time we’ve seen people of Africans descent treated in disparite ways.”
The coalition’s appeal comes after both the Ukrainian government and the UN acknowledged that some refugees had been subjected to racially discriminatory treatment after their experiences were dismissed as lies and “Russian disinformation” by online commentators.
Meanwhile, some Black and Asian refugees are still experiencing discriminatory treatment and some have fallen ill as a result of the extreme weather conditions and a fundamental lack of support, The Independent has been told.
A coalition spokesperson said it is working towards providing direct aid and help to those in need.
Around 20 more Jamaican students remain in Ukraine, it is understood.
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
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