Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn criticized the discrimination between Ukrainian refugees and their Syrian counterparts.
In a press statement on the sidelines of his participation in the 2022 Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Turkey, Asselborn stressed that his country considers what it is doing for Ukrainian refugees as a humanitarian duty, stressing the need to do the same for refugees coming from other regions as well.
"It is unacceptable to treat people in Europe on the basis of their skin colour, language and religion," he added.
A few days ago, Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the European Commission, said that the European Union does not deal with double standards with refugees from Ukraine compared to those from Syria.
The bloc has been accused of having welcomed Ukrainian refugees more openly than it did for those fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.
According to Schinas, the current situation with refugees from Ukraine is "unique" given that it is adjacent to a number of European Union countries other than Syria.
UN Estimates
The United Nations reports that more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since the entry of Russian forces on February 24, with more than two million of them crossing into Poland, which is part of the Union.
The European Union granted Ukrainian refugees temporary protection status, meaning they have the right to stay, access health care, go to school and work.
By comparison, more than a million people, mostly from Syria, arrived on European coasts in 2015, but were not automatically granted protected status.
The European Union reports that its member states eventually granted asylum to more than 550,000 Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016.
Many Syrians resided in Turkey based on an agreement concluded by Ankara with the European Union in 2016, according to which it would receive incentives, including financial aid, in return for receiving them.