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| Unrest at the stadium |
On the eve of
football tournament Euro 2012 the wave of negative information about Ukraine
has swept across Europe. It all has started from discussing the problems
provoked by political issues, such as opposition figures’ imprisonment (for
example Julia Tymoshenko’s case), political oppression and selective justice in
Ukraine, but later it came to the questioning of different aspects of the
country’s life, condemning the increasing level of xenophobia and racism in
Ukraine. But in the reality many allegations and accusations are very much
exaggerated. These allegations don’t really correspond to the real state of
affairs and don’t reflect the actual situation in the country regarding this
problem. Those condemnations in the Western media of racist incidents in
Ukraine have moved into hysteria and real spreading the fear, which is totally
unfair.
Of course,
Ukraine does have the problems of racism, xenophobia and intolerance, there is
no need to deny it, like Ukrainian authorities usually do, and these problems are
alarming. But they aren’t that massive and in some cases even less than in some
European or neighboring countries. Anyway, the countries of Western Europe face
these problems too, so this is really very unfair and even biased to depict
Ukrainian people as the racist and haters. But, of course, we have to be honest
and admit that Ukraine has these problems, and the issue of discrimination on
the ethnic basis has long history and must be resolved.
ECRI (European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance) stated in its report in 2012 that
tolerance towards Jews, Russians, Roma and other nationalities have
significantly declined since 2000, and this tendency is reflected in a daily
life, while those people experience some difficulties and problems in some
fields of life. At the same time, according to the information of Interior
Ministry of Ukraine no racial murders were recorded and the number of violent
incidents based on racial intolerance has declined too since 2009, comparing it
to 2006-2008. But the problem is that people who were attacked on racial ground
do not always report the incidents to the police. Another important problem is
that police itself often fails to classify such attacks as racial motivated,
connecting them mostly to domestic offence and hooliganism.
According to the
reports of ECRI and NGOs racially motivated attacks occur in Ukraine, but the
police and the courts do little to intervene and to resolve this problem. So
there are some concerns about attacks against Jews, Roma people, Africans, Asians,
people from Middle East, spreading of anti-Semitism, violence against Tatars in
Crimea as well. The attacks against foreigners (asylum seekers, migrants,
refugees, labor migrants, students) were also reported by Council of Europe for
several times. This occurs more often to the visible minorities (for example
people of African, Asian or Middle Eastern origin), as they usually are more
noticed, they can be the vulnerable targets or racist violence and xenophobia. But
those people who were attacked or harassed do not often report about such
attacks because of police’s response to them which is often inadequate.
Unfortunately, some of the foreigners could be abused by police too, for
example, they could be stopped for checking their documents just because they
look different. Of course this is very serious problem in Ukrainian society and
among the authorities, and it needs a firm solution.
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| Child of African origin in Ukrainian school |
The problem of
intolerance and xenophobia in Ukrainian society is very complex and requires
deep studying, as it has a lot of historical reasons, but the main issue here
is a huge amount of different national and ethnic stereotypes which still lingers
in the minds of average citizens of the country. Another problem connected to
racism and national intolerance is lack of education and culture, and here the
authorities are to blame, as they systematically fail in the task of resolving
this problem and educating the whole nation as tolerant and respectable
citizens.
| Ukrainian singer Gaitana |
It is obvious
that discrimination views and antisocial attitudes based on racism and
xenophobia are practiced by a minority of Ukrainian population, by some
organizations and ultra-right political parties. The recent scandal with dark-skinned
singer Gaitana who represented Ukraine at the Eurovision Song contest has to be
mentioned here, when the spokesperson of Ukrainian ultra-right party Svoboda
(Freedom) accused Ukraine of choosing the “African girl” and said she shouldn’t
stand for Ukraine at the contest because she doesn’t represent Ukraine and
Ukrainian soul, in fact insulting the young singer for the color of her skin. But
the most unpleasant here is that such racist views are practiced mostly by
younger generations, which is very alarming, that such a problem could occur in
the minds of the young people, who might be usually more open-minded,
especially while Ukraine considers leaning towards Europe and European values,
where tolerance and multiculturalism are welcomed. But those attitudes are
practiced by the minority of the population and don’t find the wide support
among Ukrainians.
It is worth
mentioning here that the problem of intolerance in Ukraine is not only about
racism, while one of the most tense questions here is the relationships with
Russians, and this problem is connected to the permanent language battles in
the parliament as well, when some political powers try to manipulate the
language question either proposing to declare Russian as a second state or
national language or condemning this idea at all while calling for banning
Russian language in all national institutions and even at the schools. Generally
the sentiment towards Russia and Russians varies throughout the country, but
the overall population of Ukrainians and Ukrainian Diaspora has the similar
attitude towards Russians and it’s the same or almost the same like the one
towards ethnical Ukrainians. But on the other hand the situation is worse in
the Western Ukraine, where the relationships between Russians and Ukrainians
are traditionally tense, and it has several historical reasons. That’s why the
situation with intolerance and discrimination of Russians are more difficult in
this region and it’s where most nationalist and ultra-right parties originate
from. Those extremist nationalist parties (like above-mentioned Svoboda for
example) often use radical anti-Russian and even Russophobic rhetoric, they
have strong voice now, but they are marginalized and aren’t supported by the
majority of the Ukrainians.
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| Romani people in Ukraine |
Another ethnical
group facing systematical discrimination in Ukraine is Romani people. They are
often discriminated by the average people and by police, government and
authorities as well. They usually face social discrimination; a lot of them are
refused to be given access to some social services like medical treatment, and education.
They face problems looking for job and sometimes are even refused to obtain the
documents. The problem is worsened by the traditionally negative attitude
towards them among the average people, because there are a lot of stereotypes
about Roma since the Soviet times and even earlier, and those stereotypes are
still alive, when Romani people are considered being lazy, unwilling to work
and often accused of being thugs and beggars. Unfortunately some of them prove
the credibility of such stereotypes, so the people usually try to avoid Romani
if it’s possible, and sometimes it can be very abusive.
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| Jewish pilgrims in Uman, Ukraine |
Unfortunately
there are also some hate crimes and harassment against the representatives of
Jewish community in Ukraine, but the police doesn’t have enough information
whether these crimes were racially motivated. The problem of anti-Semitism is
still one of the tensest problems in the case of ethnical intolerance in
Ukraine and demands very deep research which isn’t possible to do in the one
article. But talking generally, this problem is old enough in the society; the
attitudes towards Jewish people were traditionally negative even in the Russian
Empire if not earlier. Then the situation worsened in the Soviet times, when
Jews were systematically discriminated and refused normal work and social
services. There was even a special paragraph in the documents of every citizen
of USSR declaring their Jewish or non-Jewish origin, and this paragraph has
destroyed so many destinies in the Soviet times. The negative stereotypes and
attitudes towards Jewish people were spread in the society and till now they
are unfortunately strong enough. Even despite an immigration of a lot of Jewish
people to Israel, USA and Europe after falling and disintegration of Soviet
Union, the problem of anti-Semitism still remains. However, ECRI reports in
2012 about the decrease of the number of anti-Semitic publications since 2007,
so the authorities made some positive steps in this direction (often by
ensuring remembrance of victims of Holocaust, improving the teaching of Jewish
history etc.). But unfortunately the problem of anti-Semitism is still actual
in Ukraine, and even election campaigns are often using the anti-Semitic
propaganda, when some political leaders could be accused of being Jewish or
benefiting from the Jewish financial support. This occurred for example during
2010 presidential election in Ukraine, when the candidates Julia Tymoshenko and
Arseniy Yatsenyuk were accused of being Jewish, and there were calls for not
supporting them cause of this reason, especially in Western Ukraine. Despite
the scandal Ukrainian government didn’t comment such a situation, which led to
international criticism from Jewish organizations etc.
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| The flag of Crimean Tatars |
One of the most
painful sides in the case of discrimination in Ukraine is the situation with
Crimean Tatars. They have historically lived in the Crimean peninsula, but in
1944 they have been facing the forced deportation to Central Asia and received
the permission to return to their native lands only after the fall of the
Soviet Union. But when they came back
they found their homes occupied by Russians (as Crimea is inhabited by people
of mostly Russian origin), and till now the Tatars are discriminated due to
lack of lands, and the problem remain very tense. Conflicts between Tatars and
Slavic people in Crimea in recent years have led to fights, vandalizing the
houses and households and even murders. The authorities of Autonomic Republic
of Crimea are pro-Russian, and Ukrainian government is slow and inactive in acknowledging
those tensions. Crimean Tatars assert that the discrimination and local
propaganda campaigns are conducted mainly by Russian officials in Crimea,
people of Russian origin and by some extremist groups, such as Russian Cosacks
for example, and it promotes hostility against Tatars among other inhabitants
of Crimea and create problems for them in employment, especially in
administrative organizations. Of course, Tatars belong to other ethnicity,
speak another language and are predominantly Muslim, so their return to Crimea
after falling of USSR has shifted the ethnic composition of the region, and a
lot of tensions and attacks against them were conducted, although Tatars are
the citizens of Ukraine and this is their historical land, so they have all the
right to live here, but Ukrainian government is unfortunately not active in
resolving those problems.
So these are
only a some of the tense questions connected to the issue of nationalism,
xenophobia and national hostility occurring in Ukraine, and they all have to be
resolved, if Ukraine claims to be modern open and democratic country and is
willing to join the European community in the future. Being a Ukrainian citizen
who wishes only the best for this country, it is really unpleasant and painful
to recognize the existence of such problems within the society, but without
acknowledging them it will be impossible to solve them.
A report
released recently by Amnesty International warned of alarming rise of racist
attacks in Ukraine. Of course the government inaction in these issues is to
blame too. The government aggravates the problems denying that racism is
growing in Ukraine and claiming those incidents are only isolated cases. There
are no laws and punishment for such the crimes, there is also lack of judicial
base and special laws for regulation the immigration and the rights of
immigrants and foreigners in Ukraine, which has to be developed.
A big problem is
also the existence of different ultra-right groups, such as some nationalistic
parties predominantly in Western Ukraine or more alarming extremist groups such
as skinheads, who are inspired in Ukraine by the same groups in Russia, where
this problem is much more deep and serious. At the same time, the Neo-Nazi is a
strong movement in Russia and they even have their own ideology and continue to
develop it. The problem of racism is worse in Russia, where the national
minorities, especially of Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Asian and African origin,
are assaulted and harassed almost on a daily basis, and hostility against them
is stronger among the average people too. The movement of skinheads is also more
popular in Russia and it unfortunately came to Ukraine from there. Russian
skinheads help Ukrainian groups, sharing the tips and videos on how to catch, attack
and torture their victims. But according to the reports of local NGOs, Ministry
of Interior and ECRI the progress was made in Ukraine in this field, and the
problem of such extremist groups became less in Ukraine, and they don’t find
support among the people.
Generally the
government’s response to the problems of racism and hate crimes is usually
insufficient and inconsistent. Former Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and
some other high officials have been making the statements against racism and
xenophobia, but those statements were unfortunately undermined by the
declarations of some key law enforcement officials who used to simply deny this
problem and tell it doesn’t exist in Ukrainian society. Usually only some
individual incidents are recognized by officials, but the main problem is
denied and not resolved by the authorities. However, some important and
positive steps were made by government with creating in 2007 specialized units
in key government agencies, and there were also several guilty verdicts in the
cases of racial motivated crimes, but usually such the violent attacks and
harassment are classified as the acts of hooliganism. In November 2009 the new
law was adopted by Ukrainian parliament which raised the maximum sentences for
crimes committed on the grounds of racist, national, gender or religious
hostility. So some positive developments are to be noticed and they have to be
recognized too.
The problem of
racism and national intolerance in Ukraine could remain almost unnoticed, with
not enough attention given to it, but the wave of negative and even abusive
information about Ukraine swept in Europe just a few weeks before the beginning
of the football tournament Euro 2012, and the fears of visiting Ukraine and
Poland (which co-hosts the tournament with Ukraine) cause of threats of racism
was spread in the Western media, provoking the international condemnation of
this problem. In fact Ukraine was accused of racism and national hostility. On
the eve of Euro 2012 those accusations became really alarming, as a lot of
foreign fans and visitors were going to come to Ukraine during the tournament.
| Michel Platini, UEFA President |
The issue was
the shocking report by Panorama BBC (May28, 2012) showed the graphic pictures
of the Indian fans were attacked and violently beaten during the game in
Kharkiv, while police just stood by without interfering and doing anything to
prevent or stop this violence. Other shots were showing some extremist youth in
the stadium in Western Ukraine, waving the Nazi flags and chanting some Nazi slogans
during the play. Then the wave of negative reports and investigations,
conducted by Western, mostly British media turned to the real explosion and led
to official calls of boycotting the tournament in Ukraine. The officials and
representatives of the governments of some European countries (Great Britain,
France, Sweden etc.) decided to boycott the games held in Ukraine and don’t
attend even the games of their national teams. Such a reaction is really very
unfair and abusive to Ukraine, and Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Khandogiy expressed
his regret of this decision, accused BBC of bias over Euro 2012 racist claims
and stressed that sport and politics should not be mixed.
Almost the same
was the message of UEFA President Michel Platini, who mentioned that Ukraine
does have the problem of racism, but this problem shouldn’t be exaggerated in
Ukraine, as it’s not only Ukrainian and Polish problem, but the problem of the
whole Europe as well. The problem of racism is not the problem of football but
the problem of society, and it cannot be the reason for boycotting the
tournament. At the same time, there were a lot of steps made in this field to
improve the situation, for example the referees have got the rights to stop the
matches in case they will notice any signs of racial abuses and unacceptable
behavior on the pitch and in the stands, the authorities have compiled the
black lists of football hooligans and people accused of racial abuses before,
so they won’t have the chance to attend the matches, the punishments for
conducting the racial based crimes were made more serious etc. But
unfortunately all those developments were left unnoticed by the Western media,
and the journalist preferred to spread only the negative information regarding
this issue, and unfortunately those reports often do not even contain the
appropriate information, such as some results of sociological surveys and
statistic numbers.
After all those
reports spread in media the fear of visiting Ukraine because of its rising
problem with racism and xenophobia became stronger, and even a few English well
known football players made their statements about dangerous visiting Ukraine.
For example, Mark Chamberlain (father of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, player of UK
national team) said he will not visit UK team’s games in Ukraine because he was
scared by statements of some British MPs and media reports about racism in
Ukraine. Theo Walcott (also the player of UK national team) said he suggested
his family members to avoid visiting Ukraine because they were afraid of
possible harassment and abuses on racial grounds. Sol Campbell (retired UK’s
football player) directly called for fans to not visit Ukraine cause of
unresolved problem of racism. He made those conclusions after BBC program and
told that it would be better for the fans, especially for those with dark skin,
to stay at home and watch the games on TV, in case they don’t want to face the
violence in Ukraine and end up in a coffin. He even stressed Ukrainians do not
deserve to host such a tournament, which was really more than offensive and
unfair to Ukraine.
a situation
is very alarming and unpleasant for Ukraine and it seems the racism accusations
are used against Ukraine to abuse and discredit the country, adding it to the
condemnations of political repressions and imprisonment of opposition leaders
in the country. But the problem of racism and xenophobia in Ukraine is
exaggerated, and those allegations do not reflect the real situation in
Ukraine. The most abusive and inappropriate thing is that all those reports
showed Ukraine as a hate state, where you are actually not safe if your skin is
not white and you look different, where you can be beaten to death anytime, all
Ukrainians were showed as active racists, and it seems there are no normal and
adequate people in this country, which is simply untrue. Those incidents mentioned
in the media reports are condemned, but they do not represent the model of
racism and racist behavior in Ukraine.
| Former Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko |
Ukraine has the
problem of racism, but in fact this is not only Ukrainian problem, as the
increase of racism and nationalism is noticed all over the Europe, but in the
case of European countries political correctness still works. The racism ideas
occur in Ukrainian society, but they are represented by the minority of people
and don’t find popularity in the society. There are ultra-right movements here,
but they aren’t numerous and they are usually condemned by the society. The
conservative parties in Ukraine do not usually cooperate with nationalist parties,
and the ultra-right parties don’t find strong support too (which is different
in European countries). During twenty years of independence the elections
clearly showed that such movements are marginalized in the society, as the
extremist ultra-right parties have never won enough vote to even enter the
parliament, so it is a clear indicator that those radical and extremist ideas
aren’t popular in Ukraine. The problem of racism in Ukraine is not bigger than
in some another European countries and some neighboring countries too (in
Russia for example there is enormous problem of racism comparing to Ukraine).
The problem is
that the government used to continuously deny the problem of racism and tried
to represent the hate crimes as individual incidents, but such a strategy
doesn’t bring any positive results. It is also very strange that Ukrainian
authorities and Ukrainian media as well did not react on those statements made
by Western countries and left without any comments or official statements.
Another problem is that Ukrainian media unfortunately failed on the task of
creating more reliable image of Ukraine in the Western media, showing the real
situation and the real state of affairs.
Such accusations
are unfair and even offensive for Ukraine, because in fact the level of racism
in Ukraine is lower than in some another European countries, and the fan
culture on the stadiums is often better than in another countries too. Some
Ukrainian football and basketball teams have dark-skinned players, for example
one of the strongest Ukrainian football team “Shakhtar” located in Donetsk has
a lot of players of foreign origin and players with dark skin, and those
players are extremely popular and the real heroes and they do not face abuses
on the racial ground while playing, and no one tried to offend them.
Ukrainian state authorities, officials and
society in general have to do a lot to resolve this problem and eradicate
racism, xenophobia and all the forms of intolerance, but they should be better
encouraged for that rather than being condemned by the whole world. Ukrainian
society has to start working to solve these issues, and Euro 2012 is a good
opportunity to become more open, to learn others traditions and cultures and to
show the guests the real Ukrainian culture, which is open, wide and friendly,
the real Ukrainian hospitality. The problem cannot be resolved only by the
actions of authorities, the people themselves have to change their minds about
it and to learn to be more open-minded and tolerant and to show the European
and world’s community that Ukraine is really the place worth visiting without
any fears.
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