Wrapped in a large blanket, Safoula is squatting on the ground facing the fence at the border post of Medyka, a Polish town backing onto the Ukrainian border. The day after the Russian invasion, he packed his bags and headed for Poland on the spot. He walked no less than 40 kilometers to the border crossing due to the massive traffic jam of cars stretching for tens of kilometers on the road from Lviv to Medyka.
This 22-year-old Pakistani, who was studying computer science in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is waiting for his friends still stuck on the Ukrainian side, in the endless line leading to the Ukrainian and Polish border guards. He still has to wait several hours in the cold. His immediate objective: to reach Warsaw by train, from where he will return to his native country. In addition to refugees of Ukrainian nationality, non-European residents like Safoula have been particularly numerous for the past two days to flock to Poland. Most are young foreign workers or students, from various countries in Africa, the Middle East or South Asia.
Some say they were discriminated against by being held up at the border, while others say they had no problem getting through. Once the border is crossed, however, many have to wait a long time for the bus taking them to Przemyśl, fifteen kilometers to the west, for a whole day for some. And this, while Ukrainian women and their children can count on regular shuttles.
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