Our group, Diaspora Relief, is a collective of members across the pan-African diaspora who are deeply concerned with the difficulty experienced by Black people in their attempt to escape the war conditions currently unfolding in Ukraine. Though media outlets have often described their condition as "migrants" and "refugees" prior to their evacuation from major Ukrainian cities, the truth of the matter is that the vast majority are workers and students who found themselves segregated from other evacuees and trapped in war zones.

 

The purpose of our fundraiser is to help evacuees to purchase everything from food, water, and medicine, to transportation fare out of the country (as certain border crossings will not allow people to enter on foot). We have been contributing money out of our own pockets to facilitate these emergency measures, but we cannot do this all on our own, which is why we are asking for your help.

 

We are committed to full transparency, and have a process for validating requests from individuals in need of help. We are also keeping a tally of banking and wire transactions, which we are happy to provide at any time (with personal identification of the recipients removed).

 

We appreciate your support, and ask that you contact the Ghanaian, Nigerian, Lebanese, Jamaican, and other consulates in Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Moscow, in order to pressure governments to facilitate safe passage for those who have been unable to leave Ukrainian cities due to war zones blocking roads and railways.

 

To our diasporic family, our prayers are with you, and we are working tirelessly to assist with your safe return.