A video of an Irish “citizen journalist” questioning a number of South Asian men claiming to be 60-year-old Ukrainian refugees has gone viral, with the footage prompting questions about the people being given asylum in Western Europe.
Over 3.8 million people have left Ukraine since Russia’s renewed invasion of the state late last month, with up to 200,000 fleeing the country expected to end up in Ireland, according to the EU member-state’s officials.
This is roughly equivalent to four per cent of the national population — similar to the United States taking in 13.2 million refugees, for example.
However, an impromptu interview conducted by former National Party member Philip Dwyer and uploaded online has prompted questions as to the true origins of some of those claiming asylum in Ireland.
In footage posted to the journalist’s Telegram and YouTube channel, Dwyer approaches a number of South Asian men who claim to be Ukrainian citizens who originally came from elsewhere.
“We’re just nationals of Ukraine,” one man in the footage claims. “By origin, we are from… Kashmir.”
Dwyer goes on to quiz the men on whether or not they were asked to “stay and fight for Ukraine”, with it being reported that men between the ages of 18-60 are forbidden from leaving the country.
“No,” the man replied emphatically. “We are 60 years [old].”
“You’re very young looking for your age, if you don’t mind me saying so,” Dwyer said in response. “This man here looks very young for 60.”
The footage uploaded by Dwyer has prompted significant criticism from commenters online, with many expressing confusion about the exact nature of those entering Ireland from Ukraine.
Others have openly expressed scepticism as to whether the men are actually Ukrainian nationals over 60 years of age.
Ireland is far from the only place where the question of the exact origins of people said to be Ukrainian refugees has come to the fore, with one major publication in France claiming that up to 30 per cent of those entering the country from Ukraine are not Ukrainians.
“[T]oday a third of the refugees who pass through Ukraine who do not come from Ukraine, but… come from sub-Saharan Africa in particular… [they] use this new migratory route to come to Europe,” said French MEP Nicolas Bay regarding the current migratory influx.
“There are those who come for economic reasons, who weigh down our public accounts and our social accounts, and the Ukrainians towards whom we have a duty of European solidarity, of course,” he continued.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged of Belarus routing Middle Eastern migrants through Ukraine and into the European Union, with some of these migrants even reporting being forced out of Belarus and into the territory at gunpoint.
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