Helped 130,000 Foreigners, Including 10,000 Indians, To Leave, Says Ukraine
Kyiv/New Delhi, Mar 6: The Ukrainian government said on Sunday that over the past week it assisted more than 130,000 foreigners to leave the country, including 10,000 Indian, 2,500 Chinese, 1,700 Turkmen and 200 Uzbek students.
It also said that, in the light of allegations of unequal treatment of foreign students leaving Ukraine, “Discrimination of any kind, which includes discrimination based on race, skin color or nationality, has never been condoned in Ukraine which has been a key destination for foreign students from all corners of the globe for decades.” “The Ukrainian government takes very seriously all accounts alleging unequal treatment, including when it comes to the crossing of the state border by foreign citizens”. “We continue to prioritize supporting foreign citizens to leave Ukraine as safely and as quickly as possible,” it stated.
It urged diplomatic missions of other countries to be more proactive in joining efforts to evacuate their nationals from the conflict zones, and keep regular contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. It said the Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities in violation of the ceasefire agreement has a direct, negative impact on their ability to secure the safe evacuation of foreign citizens out of Ukraine. It also urged foreign governments to demand from President Putin that he immediately stop his war on Ukraine. It said that despite the extremely difficult conditions, the Ukrainian government has continued to keep all checkpoints on the western border open, 24 hours a day.
Checks and check-in operations have been simplified as much as possible and the list of necessary documents has been minimized. Citizens of all nationalities who are traversing the border are asked to comply with law and order and to act responsibly in light of the challenging situation. Those who are crossing are asked to have documents ready and to be as organized as possible. In addition, we ask that those crossing show mutual respect and understanding to everyone at the border during this extremely challenging time, the statement said.
