Algerian student dies as fighting in Ukraine continues

An Algerian student has died in clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, amid plans by North African countries to evacuate and repatriate their nationals, mostly students, and concern over the treatment of students from Africa.

As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its fifth day, 25-year-old Mohammed Abdel Monaim Talbi from Tlemcen died on 26 February after being shot in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.

Talbi, an aerospace engineering student in the capital Kiev since 2018, was shot as he tried to flee the fighting. He was evacuated by rescuers, but died in hospital, according to his Algerian family.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed his condolences in a statement, while the ministry of foreign affairs announced on 28 February that it was working to ensure the return of the deceased to Algeria.

“The ministry renews its call to the members of the national community in this country to exercise the utmost caution and fully comply with the applicable security and safety directives and instructions, and to remain in constant contact with our embassy in Kiev, as well as with our diplomatic missions in Warsaw and Bucharest for those who crossed the Ukrainian borders towards Poland and Romania,” stated the ministry.

Evacuation plans

Other North African countries have also put forward plans to transfer their nationals, mostly students, trapped in the conflict.

The Egyptian embassy in Ukraine, a country with 6,000 nationals in Ukraine of whom more than half are students, the majority enrolled in Kharkiv, urged citizens in the western parts of Ukraine to head for the border crossings with Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia but advised citizens in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv or eastern cities to stay at home or in shelters, until a secure and safe exit could be established.

Morocco, a country with at least 12,000 citizens (including 8,000 students) who usually reside in Ukraine, had already returned about 3,000 of them before the Russian offensive and will establish special flights for the remaining Moroccans living in Ukraine at a fixed rate of MAD750 (US$78) starting from 2 March, according to a Royal Air Maroc statement.

Tunisia, which does not have an embassy in Ukraine, will send planes to Poland and Romania to repatriate its nationals who wish to leave. Of the nearly 1,700 living in Ukraine, 80% are students.

Starting from 27 February, Tunisia launched a military and civilian air bridge to repatriate members of the Tunisian community in Ukraine, forced by the war to leave the country’s territories to neighbouring countries, namely Poland and Romania.

The Libyan embassy in Ukraine has planned rallying points in Ukraine and evacuations to Slovakia for a diaspora estimated at nearly 3,000 people.

Challenges students face

Several African students in both North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa in Ukraine have posted photos and videos on social media platforms using the #AfricansInUkraine hashtag on Twitter and the #africansinukraine hashtag on Instagram, allegedly showing people from Africa being abandoned at train and bus stations or being held back from boarding trains out of Ukraine.

Subsequently the African Union (AU) issued a statement on 28 February saying: “We are particularly disturbed by reports that African citizens on the Ukrainian side of the border are being refused the right to cross the border to safety.

“Reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach of international law,” the AU statement said.

“All people have the right to cross international borders during conflict, and as such, should enjoy the same rights to cross to safety from the conflict in Ukraine, notwithstanding their nationality or racial identity.”

The AU statement “urges all countries to respect international law and show the same empathy and support to all people fleeing war notwithstanding their racial identity”.