A Ukrainian leader is asking for the help of the world to stop a Russian invasion. He refuses to let Ukrainian families flee to safety.
The Ukrainian government has ordered that all men between 18 and 60 years old are prohibited from leaving the country.” It New York Times reports.
A CNN report on February 24, the day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law, quoted a statement from Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine stated that as long as martial law is in force, it was forbidden for Ukraine’s citizens aged 18-60 to cross the border into Ukraine.
It is cruel and inhumane as it effectively forces the seperation of families. A huge outcry erupted over Trump’s cruel policy of separating children from their parents at the Mexican border. The Trump policy was called “outrageous” by future U.S. President Joe Biden. Biden, however, has not condemned Zelenskyy’s policies but directed $1 Billion of American military assistance to Ukraine. He also portrayed Zelenskyy, a representative of the side of freedom, in the conflict.
Biden stated February 24, that “In the battle between democracy and autocracy and between sovereignty and submission, make no mistake: freedom will triumph.” God bless the citizens of a free, democratic Ukraine.
What is the freedom of a country that you can’t leave?
The Zelenskyy non-elderly-men-can’t-leave policy violates at least three provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 13 provides that “Everyone can leave any country. Article 9 provides that no person shall be arrested or held arbitrarily. Article 7 says, “All people are equal before law” and have the right to the same protection. Arbitrarily detained men between the ages of 18 and 60 in Zelenskyy’s Ukraine Their sex and their age are used as grounds for discrimination.
Freedom to go was one of two fundamental differences that existed between the Soviet bloc in the Cold War: the other is the freedom to move. At the Berlin Wall, East German border guards shot those trying to flee communism to West Germany. A grassroots bipartisan advocacy campaign focused on Jewish “refuseniks”, who were denied permission from Soviet authorities to emigrate either to Israel, or to the United States. They played a crucial role in the defeat of the Soviet Union. Vietnamese, Cubans and Vietnamese risked everything to escape communism.
Periodic suggestions by Democratic politicians for imposing exit taxes on American citizens has prompted me back to the ReichsfluchtsteuerThis is the 25% tax that Nazis levied on Jews who fled Germany in the 1930s.
One thing is to feel stirred when the Ukrainians take up arms in defense of their democracy from a Russian dictator. The problem comes when the Ukrainian men realize that they don’t have any choice but to stay.
This policy does not support the goal of peace or an independent Ukraine. Russia claims, now, that Ukrainian civilians are still of fighting age, as it bombs civilian targets. The possibility of allowing men to travel with their families will increase the numbers of refugees and encourage Ukraine’s neighbours to press for peaceful solutions. The remaining Ukrainian fighters might be more willing to bravely fight if they’re genuine volunteers and not conscripts trapped between the Ukrainian army and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. If the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine blocks exit routes for refugees, it’s difficult to blame Russia.
Women and children fleeing Ukraine are already facing trauma. Zelenskyy only adds to the problems by taking their husbands and wives away from them and making it worse.
Biden may ask Zelenskyy if he really means “freedom will prevail” – he might want to request Zelenskyy for the fathers and husbands to be able to flee Ukraine.