Horrific pictures have appeared across Ukraine and in the world press of how local residents have opposed the arrival of a bus full of mainly Ukrainians evacuated from China for a stay in quarantine. Crowds are shown battling dozens of riot police and barricades burn as the authorities attempted to transport a bus containing 72 people to a health sanatorium near to the small town of Novi Sanzhary in Central Ukraine.
The anger was fuelled by the whole approach of the authorities. It was only discovered the evening before that the nearby National Guard sanatorium was to be used. No preparatory explanations were carried out. This helped create a feeling that nobody really cared about them. In a town, where a year ago 90% voted for Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian President, people now shout “Thank you Zelenskiy for the infection”. Tempers were inflamed even more when the Minister of the Interior arrived to thank the riot police for the operation and publicly referred to the people as “cattle”.
The authorities have done little to prevent everyday racism against the Chinese. Earlier this month, in Kharkiv, the next major city a Chinese student who coughed suddenly found himself barricaded in his hostel, while the University management all turned up wearing masks. He had been in a local hospital being treated for pneumonia.
In neighboring Russia, the authorities have announced that although flights to and from China continue, a block will be put on any Chinese citizen who wants to come to Russia as a tourist, worker or student. Any other nationality travelling from China will be allowed, as will Chinese businessmen, as if they are immune from infection. Meanwhile in Moscow, bus drivers have been instructed to stop their bus and call the police if anyone with a ‘Chinese appearance” gets on.
Medical advice, particularly for people living in cities close to China is to wear face masks, which need to be changed every 2 hours. In Khabarovsk, a town of 600,000 inhabitants separated from China by just a river, there are just 50,000 masks available. In Moscow, the waiting list to buy masks is over 2 weeks whilst in Ukraine, people complain that it is almost impossible to buy masks or flu treatments as businesses have sent all supplies to China, where they get better prices.
Of course, rumours have played their role in creating panic. But they get an echo through the incompetence of the authorities. Kiev promised to evacuate its citizens from China more than two weeks ago. Originally the quarantine was planned in the Kiev region, then near Lviv in West Ukraine. But as soon as these suggestions were made, local politicians all objected and people started to block roads in opposition. In Novi Sanzhary, the feeling is widespread that they have been selected to avoid upsetting the stronger regions.
When the aircraft with the evacuees flew into Ukraine, it was due to land at the nearby Kharkiv airport, circled there for two hours and was diverted to Kyiv to refuel, before returning to Kharkiv. The delay was needed to mobilise the National guard, personnel carriers and the so-called “Cosmonauts” — riot police with helmets and armoured jackets to control the already thousands-strong crowd blockading the roads to the sanatorium.
There was an element of spontaneity in the way the protests built up, but at the same time the local political and business elite played a role in whipping up the discontent. In particular activists from the ‘Block of Petro Poroshenko’ (former Ukrainian President defeated by Zelenskiy) and well as right-wing ‘patriotic’ organisations financed by the local oligarchs Kolomoiskiy and Korban were amongst the first building barricades and setting tyres alight. Local deputies declared their opposition, while local agribusinesses drove tractors to the site to help build the blockades.
Of course, there is a feeling of “not in my back-yard” driving the protests, particularly given that other regions had already successfully rejected the evacuees. But many of those protesting stress they have nothing against the evacuees themselves. Facebook discussions from the area stress that nobody had made any attempt to warn them, or explain what medical precautions should be taken. Others warn of the very poor state of the sanatorium itself — there are photos of the conditions there with broken doors to rooms, bad, mouldy showers and so on. Others are very concerned that just a short way away are residential blocks with childrens’ playgrounds. The truth is that the whole healthcare system is in a despicable state — except of course, in the elite hospitals and sanatoriums used by the rich and government deputies. People ask why they cannot be used. Others are concerned about work as the town is a tourist spot, now people will be reluctant to visit.
People in the town are understandably worried and now angry at the way they have been treated. Not only have the authorities organized the whole evacuation very badly, and have failed to pre-warn and inform people, they immediately resorted to violent measures to put down the opposition. Whilst the use of quarantine may be necessary to control such illnesses, it has to be organized with full information provided in proper facilities enabling those quarantined to avoid infection too.
Priorities have to be changed, so that there is proper financing for a quality healthcare system free to users and prepared to deal with such risks as new outbreaks. That can only be done if private profit is driven out. Pharmaceutical companies, who are more interested in selling masks and medicines where they can get the highest profits need to be nationalized under workers control, so that stock-piles can be prepared and production re-allocated as soon as is necessary. This outbreak of a new illness is not the first, it won’t be the last. Only when those who are currently in power, who are only interested in their own money and power are replaced by genuinely democratic, socialist government, which represents the interests of all working people can we be confident that such outbreaks will be dealt with effectively.
