Spain’s Vox Party welcomes Ukrainian refugees, but not Muslims
The leader of Spain’s far-right Vox Party has welcomed the absorption of Ukrainians fleeing their country after Russia’s military operation against it but opposed hosting Muslim refugees in Europe.
In an address to the parliament on Wednesday, Santiago Abascal said the Ukrainian refugees must be welcomed by the European countries “because they are indeed war refugees,” but described Muslims who are fleeing their crisis-hit countries as “invaders.”
“Anyone can tell the difference between them (Ukrainian refugees) and the invasion of young military-aged men of Muslim origin who have assaulted European borders in an attempt to destabilize and colonize it,” he said.
The far-right Vox Party has repeatedly been slammed over its Islamophobic stance.
The Ukrainian crisis put the racist European policy against non-Europeans under spotlight, with Bulgaria, which has been against hosting refugees from the Middle East, also opening its doors to the Ukrainians.
“These are not the refugees we are used to… these people are Europeans,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has said, adding, “These people are intelligent, they are educated people.”
The UN refugee chief also admitted that some non-European refugees have faced discrimination while attempting to flee to safety at Ukraine's borders, following Moscow's military campaign, which was launched on February 25 with the aim of "demilitarizing and de-Nazifying" Ukraine.
Filippo Grandi confirmed "there has been a different treatment" by Ukrainian security forces and border officials at a press conference on Tuesday, after a number of Black, South Asian, and Mediterranean refugees shared accounts of being blocked at borders while trying to make crossings.
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