RACIST DOUBLE STANDARDS IN WESTERN MEDIA COVERAGE OF UKRAINIANS FLEEING RUSSIA’S INVASION

Tue 01 March 2022:

The Western media’s coverage of the refugee issue in Ukraine has revealed its double standards.

Around 470,000 foreign nationals, including students and migrant workers, are stranded in Ukraine, and the UN migration agency stated on Tuesday that if they try to flee, neighboring nations should grant them refugee status.

“We appeal to neighbouring countries to ensure that protection and shelter and access to territory is provided to all,” Safa Msehli, a spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told a briefing.

The IOM has received calls for assistance from states in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa for their citizens attempting to flee Ukraine, and Msehli said the agency is working on a coordinated response. She stated that 6,000 foreign nationals had fled to Slovakia and Moldova thus far.

Several people have taken to social media to share recordings and testimony about discrimination at train stations and border crossings.

“Frankly, these are not refugees like the Syrians, these are refugees from #Ukraine, they are Christians, white, and they are like us.”@KellyCobiella – NBC News Reporter. pic.twitter.com/Y70Ezpsx0c

— Raji Al-Sherif (@RajiAlSherif) February 28, 2022

Since Russia’s invasion last week, more than 660,000 people have left Ukraine to neighboring nations, according to the UN refugee agency. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, especially women and children, as well as third-country nationals, are among those affected.

Netizens have called attention to the double standard, pointing out that while the toll of war in the two conflicts may be identical, the media treatment is not.

Many also drew a comparison between Europe’s welcoming of Ukrainian refugees and the influx of Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, which was declared a “migrant crisis”.

“This isn’t a place, with all due respect, you know, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades,” said Charlie D’Agata of US network CBS News.

“This is a relatively civilised, relatively European, I have to choose those words carefully too — city where you wouldn’t expect that or hope it is going to happen.”

You are a disgrace to the profession of journalism. War is terrible, wherever it is. Stop racism, and hold this racist reporter accountable.@CBSNews pic.twitter.com/ZVHmsYkQvN

— Sofia.m.s (@Sofiams0) February 27, 2022

A day later, after much online furore, D’Agata apologised for his “poor choice of words”.

Meanwhile, journalist Philippe Corbe said, “We are not talking about Syrians fleeing the bombardment of the Syrian regime, supported by Vladimir Putin. We are talking about Europeans who are leaving in their cars, that look like our cars… and who are just trying to save their lives.”

The Qatari channel Al Jazeera English was also not immune to the controversy.

“These are not, obviously, refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war,” said one of its anchors.

“They look like any European family that you would live next door to.”

The network later issued an apology, describing the remarks as “insensitive and irresponsible.”

These are just of many remarks on reputable media outlets drawing a line between the conflict unfolding in Ukraine and those in other parts of the world.

‘Racist coverage’

The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association condemned “examples of racist news coverage that ascribes more importance to some victims of war than others”.

“This type of commentary reflects the pervasive mentality in Western journalism of normalising tragedy in parts of the world such as the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Latin America.”

Political scientist Ziad Majed said that, while there was “magnificent solidarity” from the world over the Ukraine conflict, it also revealed a “shocking distinction”.

The discrepancies in media treatment revealed the “dehumanisation of refugees from the Middle East”, said Majed, a professor at the American University of Paris.

“When we hear some commentators speaking about ‘people like us’, this suggests that those coming from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Africa are not (like them)”.

The contrast in media coverage is especially apparent for Syrians, given that Russia started a deadly intervention to prop up Bashar al-dictatorship Assad’s over six years ago.

According to Majed, Syrian territory functioned as a “laboratory” for the Russian army before the conflict in Ukraine, where it “tried its armament and tactics.”

On Monday, the African Union (AU) expressed concern over reports that African people in Ukraine are being denied the ability to travel borders to safety as they attempt to flee the turmoil there.

Thousands of African students study medicine, engineering, and military affairs in cities under siege across Ukraine. According to the education ministry, Morocco, Nigeria, and Egypt are among the top ten nations with foreign students in Ukraine, each providing over 16,000 students.

What was supposed to be a less expensive alternative to studying in Western Europe or the United States has devolved into a war zone overnight as Russian tanks, planes, and ships launch the largest European invasion of another country since World War II.

African nations thousands of miles distant are straining to support their students when flights are grounded.

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