One million children have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded, and heartbreaking images have captured the world's attention. But the empathy and acceptance for these child refugees is not the same as those from other countries, experts told Sue O'Connell on Greater Boston.
"All the attention is now on Ukraine, and understandably so, but in Afghanistan the situation has gone from bad to worse," said Jacqueline Bhabha, director of research with the Harvard's François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights.
For example, children fleeing gang violence in Central America and Mexico are also not well received in the United States, often being separated from their family members and detained. Bhabha said that the generosity and solidarity shown by local communities, and their acceptance of refugees, must be matched by government institutions.
Susan Roses, an immigration attorney with the Law Office of Michael P. Martel, said that citizens can play a role in pushing the government to lead the way in helping refugees. "The most important thing really is to get involved politically, to be communicative with your representatives, with your senators, to get involved with human rights organizations," she said.
Watch: The war's toll on child refugees
