I suppose that it is just a cultural fear of the unknown.  The unknown in this case are refugees from North Africa and the Middle East. Otherwise, how can one explain the difference in the treatment meted out to the refugees from Ukraine to those from North Africa and the Middle East?

 The different treatment displays the existence of a profound double standard and an attempt to deprive certain human beings of their basic rights, effectively leading to their dehumanisation. After all, these people are also fleeing from violence. In an ideal world, all refugees should be treated equally.

Refugees are not supposed to face discrimination based on race, religion, or country of origin, according to the Refugee Convention of the United Nations.

But it seems that if one's skin colour is white and is a Christian to boot, there will be no border controls on the European Continent and everyone is more than welcome, even in Hungary, a country notorious for its continuous refusal to do its part of burden sharing when it comes to refugees seeking shelter within the European Union.

The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban is one of the most outspoken opponents of the EU's migration policy, citing that Hungary's national security and the European Christian culture would consequently be under threat if Hungary gave shelter to refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa. Perhaps someone should remind Mr Orban that real Christians should be helping their brothers and sisters in their hour of need in true Christian spirit.

Bulgaria's prime minister Kiril Petkov insisted that Ukrainian refugees are first and foremost Europeans. He also described them as intelligent and educated persons.  Apart from sounding racist, a statement like that requires sensitivity and consideration. Especially if it gives the impression that refugees coming from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa are people whose identities are not clear, who have a blurred past, and with a not-so-subtle suggestion that they could have even been terrorists.

The allegation is that non-European refugees are not intelligent, less educated, and dangerous persons and therefore not eligible to aspire for refugee status in a European state, the implication being that no European country will refuse the current wave of refugees from Ukraine mainly because these people are just "like us" and probably because the Ukrainian people are ethnically and culturally similar to their new hosts

An interesting fact, however, rejects the above allegation because quite the contrary happened in Syria. Indeed, Many people who fled from Syria for Europe during the Syrian war in 2015 were middle class professionals.

The Polish Right, too, has always opposed all immigration, notwithstanding a common immigration policy at EU level. But Poland has suddenly adopted an open-door policy when it comes to Ukrainian refugees. Indeed, our Maltese ambassador to that country is doing a very good job, voluntarily, repatriating Ukrainians with Maltese family ties

One cannot predict the duration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nor how many Ukrainians intend to escape from their country to the neighbouring countries that are, up till now, allowing them to flood in at an increasing daily rate.

One can neither predict if the Ukrainian refugees will ever be able to return to their homeland, and if they will ever be able to rebuild their lives and the homes they left behind. The mass exodus from Ukraine has resulted in numerous displacements, including the separation of couples and family members.

We have all watched endless footage of Ukrainians fleeing Russian bombardment, the train stations overcrowded with people desperate to get on to a train, even to nowhere. The tailbacks of slow-moving traffic and exhausted people stuck in their cars for what seemed like eternity. And our hearts go out to them. But we must never forget about the tragedies in the Mediterranean sea and how Mare Nostrum became a huge underwater cemetery when thousands of people lost their lives out at sea

One can only hope that the sanctions imposed on Russia will start to bite soon enough. The worlds of sports and culture have acted quickly, and Russia has been ostracised by a significant number of Sports Organisations like FIFA and UEFA, who kicked out the national team and clubs from their competitions. On top of that, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who has often spoken in support of the Russian leader, has been dropped from the Vienna Philharmonic tour in the United States after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

There can be no reason that justifies this war. Just as Adolf Hitler crossed Europe's red line when he gave orders to invade Poland, so is Vladimir Putin playing a perilous game of hide and seek in Ukraine, because the Ukrainian leadership dared to defy him, except that putting the lives of millions of people at serious risk is hardly a game.