By Ed Bonahue (MPA ’23)

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced millions, Columbia SIPA student Macire Aribot has traveled to Europe to provide humanitarian support and assist the evacuation of Black refugees with NoirUnited International, an NGO she co-founded.  

A first-year Master of International Affairs candidate studying economic and political development, Macire co-founded NoirUnited in the summer of 2020 to address the global marginalization of the Black diaspora. Earlier this year, as evidence of the disproportionate mistreatment of Black refugees made its way through social media, NoirUnited collaborated with several organizations and individual volunteers from around the world to support refugees in need.  

Initially, NoirUnited raised funds as part of a collective effort to finance the evacuation of Black refugees. To date, they have helped raise over $100,000. As the conflict continued, NoirUnited sought opportunities to broaden its outreach and provide more direct support to people displaced by the war. In early March, Aribot made contact through Telegram with a group of African college students hoping to flee Kherson, Ukraine. NoirUnited immediately began taking steps to help coordinate their exit.

Aribot describes the students as a diverse group of young people, ranging in age from 17 to 30, with many from North, Central, South, and West Africa. When she first made contact, the students were taking shelter in bunkers and dormitories. Many of the students were attending Kherson State University, while several had gone to other schools throughout the city. 

“They were pretty much stuck with no support,” said Aribot. “We had advised these students to wait for humanitarian aid. We had been writing emails to them and ambassadors, embassies — really trying to advocate for these students and their needs.”

Throughout the outreach, and while NoirUnited organized a response, Aribot was aware of the risk that the students faced each day. “In the meantime, students were waking up to bombings. They were becoming more and more fearful for their lives.”

In early March, as NoirUnited and its network of organizations provided travel funds and the students prepared to attempt departing Ukraine, Aribot and NoirUnited International’s co-founder, Nassim Ashford, traveled to Europe to provide direct humanitarian, logistical, and financial support.

As the students fled Kherson, Aribot and Ashford met them at their primary destinations. First, the duo traveled to Paris, where they successfully coordinated with Airbnb and the French Red Cross to provide temporary housing for 14 students while making efforts to secure necessary political and financial circumstances for the students to continue their education and livelihoods.

“They all still wanted to go to school,” Aribot explained. “Every time we talked to them, they said, ‘our priority is continuing our education. We can’t go home without finishing our degrees.’ So we went about securing partnerships with schools in the United States, Canada, and trying to find ways to set them up there.” 

NoirUnited and other aid organizations have communicated with schools throughout North America to develop programs to help students complete their degrees safely and efficiently. So far, Aribot reports that Mercer University has agreed to accept applications from African students fleeing Ukraine, and she indicates that there is movement towards similar initiatives at other universities in the future. 

Departing from Paris, Aribot and Ashford made their way to Krakow, Poland, where NoirUnited successfully helped to house 56 additional students in a local monastery. Upon arrival, Aribot and Ashford began engaging with the students directly, working to identify the best path forward to provide support. “One of the first things we did when we met this group was take them shopping for new clothes. They had been wearing the same thing for over a month,” said Aribot. 

“We also gave them money for train tickets. Many of the students wanted to go to Germany to speak with their embassies there.” Upon arriving in Germany, student refugees were supported by members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, which pooled funds and secured temporary housing for the students.

After Krakow, NoirUnited traveled to Budapest, Hungary to provide resources, meet with refugee students and families, and document their stories. They continued their advocacy work in Berlin, Germany, where they met with the Minister-Counselor of the Guinean Embassy, who commended them for their humanitarian efforts thus far. Most recently, they made their way to Warsaw, Poland, where they visited refugee camps and met with like-minded nongovernmental organizations.

“We have to remember that when we are dealing with humanitarian crises that we need to use an intersectional lens,” said Aribot. “Who’s being impacted by these crises, and who’s going to be the most vulnerable? Oftentimes, it’s Black communities.”

Aribot emphasized the role that policy students can play by supporting refugees financially and reaching out to their international agencies. “The best way that SIPA students or anyone else can support is to donate. These students don’t have any money, and they need food; they need basic necessities.” 

“Beyond donating, amplifying our work is critical,” Aribot continued. “There’s a big disparity in the aid being provided to the people we are working with. African students are not receiving the same support. Our students have felt defeated, saying things like, ‘well, racism happens all the time.’ But we don’t want that to be the sentiment that’s shared. We want people to be anti-racist. We want people to feel like there’s hope for the future and a better international community.”

To donate to NoirUnited International’s efforts in Ukraine and learn more about their work, visit noirunited.org/ukraine.

Ed Bonahue is a contributing editor and a first-year Master of Public Administration student concentrating in Urban and Social Policy.