The beginning of Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine found me in Warsaw. I had followed the news on TV that Putin would attack Ukraine, there was a lot of information and speculation on this subject in the media. On the morning of 24 February 2022, Russia indeed sent missiles into Ukraine. Still, there was hope that this was only an attempt to intimidate and cause panic. In Warsaw, large numbers of people were buying up goods and it was challenging to refuel my car because there were long queues at gas stations. People were afraid Putin would attack Poland as well.
That same day, thousands and then hundreds of thousands of people began to cross the border with Ukraine and to enter Poland. As a Romani activist in Poland, I received information within a short time about the Romani community from Ukraine trying to cross the border. I also heard about people who were not of ethnic Ukrainian origin who were not treated on an equal footing with other Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war.
I received many questions from various social organizations and coordinators of refugee accommodation places about how to help the Romani Ukrainian refugees. Amongst the requests for help were also complaints about the people of Romani origin arriving at the border: “They do not follow the rules of coexistence in the place”, “We see that ethnic Ukrainians do not want to stay near them.” I was surprised to see longstanding stereotypical opinions about Romani people resurfacing even in an emergency, during a war.
