Lawyers to UN: Black Lives Matter ‘In Times of War and in Times of Peace’
A coalition’s letter asks the UN to direct governments to treat Black people and other minorities equitably and admit them across borders at the same rates as others.
Displaced Ukrainians arrive at the Smilnytsia-Krościenko border crossing in Kyriv, Ukraine.
Photographer: Nathan Laine/BloombergA coalition of human-rights lawyers is urging the United Nations to do more to protect Black people and other racial and ethnic minorities who are fleeing Ukraine, an appeal that comes after reports of racist treatment at the border.
Lawyers including civil-rights attorney Ben Crump and international human-rights attorney Jasmine Rand, who both represented the family of George Floyd, on Wednesday issued a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urging the organization to take action following reports that Africans and other racial minorities in Ukraine were blocked from leaving the country by border guards and others. The letter urges the UN to issue executive orders directing governments to treat people of color equitably and admit them across borders at the same rates as others.