Top US Senator urges Ukrainian government to end racial discrimination at its border
Washington(PTI): A top American Senator has urged the Ukrainian government to end racial discrimination at its border, a prickly issue that has been pointed out by numerous students who have been frantically trying to flee the war-ravaged country.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensified, foreign students, especially Africans and Asians, who are attempting to flee the country have been complaining that they have been experiencing racist treatment by Ukrainian security forces at border check-posts.
I want to call attention to a growing body of disturbing reports along Ukraine's western borders, which allege discriminatory treatment and processing of certain non-Ukrainian individuals in particular, individuals from African nations, Senator Mark Warner said in a letter to Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the US on Thursday.
Warner is Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and is also Co-Chair of Senate India Caucus.
According to online videos circulating on social media, individuals from Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt and India, as well as other nations seeking to escape the war in Ukraine, have been physically abused, barred from boarding trains and buses, and denied entry into border nations, among other things, the Senator's office said.
Many of these individuals are students studying in Ukraine. As you well know, at least 20 per cent of the more than 80,000 international students studying in Ukraine come from an African nation, with sizable populations of Moroccan, Nigerian, and Egyptian students, Warner wrote.
These students and other individuals must be able to seek safety, and any discriminatory treatment or actions that deny them that ability are unacceptable. I echo the sentiments of the African Union, the US Department of State, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and highlight this right of all people who are fleeing conflict, he said.
Acknowledging the challenging circumstances being navigated by Ukrainian security personnel who are rapidly working to facilitate historic refugee flows, Warner in his letter has stressed the importance of affording all individuals the ability to seek safe evacuation, regardless of race, religion, or nationality.
Warner also stated this point in his letters to the ambassadors of neighbouring nations Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova who are working with Ukraine to process and provide refuge in response to the mass migration spurred by Russia's aggression.
The Senator also stated he will continue to monitor the conditions relating to the African diaspora and others who are being forcibly displaced at the Ukrainian borders.
An international coalition of activists and human rights lawyers on Wednesday filed an appeal to the United Nations on behalf of African and Asian refugees who were facing discrimination and abuse while trying to evacuate from the eastern European nation.
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Cordelia cruise case: Delhi HC gives nod to disciplinary action against Sameer Wankhede
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Friday gave its nod to the continuation of disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the 2021 Cordelia cruise drugs case.
A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan allowed the Centre's plea against an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which quashed the disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede in the matter.
"This petition is allowed," said the bench while pronouncing the verdict.
A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.
The central government challenged the CAT order passed on January 19, quashing the 'Charge Memorandum' issued to Wankhede on August 18, 2025, by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
Wankhede, a 2008 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, made headlines for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's family by threatening to implicate his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case during his tenure in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai in 2021.
Before the CAT, Wankhede filed an original application challenging the disciplinary inquiry against him by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs for allegedly seeking confidential information related to the probe from NCB's legal department after he was relieved from the agency.
It was also alleged that he sought an "assurance" from the NCB's legal officer to "steer the investigation" in the probe.
On January 12, the high court refused to interfere with an order of the CAT staying the disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede.
It had, however, asked the CAT to make "sincere efforts" to decide the main matter on January 14 or within the next 10 days.
