The journey from war takes days and weeks. And while most people fleeing Ukraine are met with open arms and compassion, Nawa, Kathy and Solomon haven¡¯t always had that experience. Like other people of color seeking safety in neighboring countries, they¡¯ve found themselves repeatedly pushed back, forced out of evacuation trains and threatened with violence when they did try to board.
¡°They were trying to show that there are levels to this and we were the last,¡± said Solomon, a 35-year-old locksmith who fled the city of Kharkiv.
Nawa and Kathy, from Zambia and in their 20s, and Solomon, who¡¯s from Kenya, left Ukraine in the days following the Feb. 24 Russian invasion and met in Warsaw, where through social media they found young volunteers offering them a lift by car out of Poland. As they work out where to go next, it¡¯s not clear they¡¯ll find refuge in Europe.
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