areas”. […] OHCHR documented cases of individual travellers who were unable to enter Crimea despite having family connections and humanitarian reasons to travel". OHCHR – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues concerned about the situation of ethnic minorities, especially that of Crimean Tatars in the city of Kherson, and in other regions where the Russian army is currently conducting attacks, 16 March 2022 "While I am imploring Russia to stop the war, I am also urging the United Nations and its Member States, international and regional organisations to mainstream minority issues in their responses to this human catastrophe, and to Ukraine and neighbouring countries to respond without discrimination to the refugee crisis in the treatment of minorities such as Roma, international students, at borders and elsewhere. It is of paramount importance to acknowledge that minorities, such as Roma, many of whom may be undocumented in Ukraine, face specific vulnerabilities in the times of this conflict. I urge all parties to ensure that all minorities, including Roma, have access to humanitarian assistance without any discrimination. All people of Ukraine, including people of African, Asian, Middle Eastern descent and Roma should be granted equal protection and safety when seeking refuge inside and outside of the country, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, language or status. Minorities such as Roma or people of African descent and all others regardless of the colour of their skin, or their ethnicity or religion, must all be dealt with without discrimination along their evacuation route out of Ukraine." IPS – Inter Press Service - News Agency, Article on discrimination of Roma as they flee the conflict: ‘Brutal’ Discrimination Adds Trauma to Roma as they Flee War-torn Ukraine, 9 March 2022 "Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has sparked what the UN has described as the fastestgrowing refugee crisis in Europe since WWII, and as of March 9, an estimated 2 million people had left the country. These include Roma who, like other refugees, abandoned their homes and communities as fighting broke out across the country. But having reached borders of neighbouring states, they have found themselves subject to what some groups helping them have described as “brutal” discrimination. “Groups working on the ground at borders in Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary have confirmed discrimination to us, and also media reports have backed this up. Roma are facing discrimination both by border guards, and then local people once they get out of Ukraine. It’s very sad and disappointing, but not surprising,” Zeljko Jovanovic, Director of the Roma Initiatives Office at the Open Society Foundation (OSF) told IPS. Roma living in Europe are among the most discriminated and disadvantaged groups on the continent. In many countries, including Ukraine where it is thought there are as many as 400,000 Roma, significant numbers live in segregated settlements where living conditions are often poor and extreme poverty widespread. Health in many such places is also bad with research[1] showing very high burdens of both infectious and non-communicable diseases and significantly shorter lifespans than the general population. Incidents of discrimination of Roma have been reported at the borders of all countries that are taking in refugees, according to the OSF and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). These have included being made to wait much longer in lines, sometimes tens of kilometres long, in freezing weather, than ethnic Ukrainian refugees, before they are processed. “They are always the last people to be let out of the country,” said Jovanovic. Media reports have quoted refugees describing discrimination and, in some cases, physical attacks. One Roma woman who had made her way to Moldova said she and her family had spent four days waiting at the border with no food and water, and having found shelter were then chased out of it by Ukrainian guards. Groups working with the refugees said Roma who crossed into their countries told them similar stories. Viktor Teru of the Roma Education Fund in Slovakia said: “Roma refugees tell us that on the Ukrainian side there is ‘brutal’ discrimination.” But once they finally make it over the border, their problems often do not end there. Bela Racz, of the 1Hungary organisation, which is helping Roma refugees in Hungary, said he had witnessed discrimination during three days his 14