Black man and hijab-wearing woman refused entry to a restaurant in Sumy

In Sumy, a young couple were not let into the restaurant at a pretext that they are foreigners. The waiters identified their citizenship based on the skin color of the male and the female's Muslim outfit. They demanded the visitors to show passports, but the latter refused and stood up for their rights, TSN reports. The restaurant where the incident happened is located in the city center.

The couple booked a table in advance to mark the arrival to Sumy. But as soon as they reached the entrance, the waiters said they could not be allowed into the restaurant. They were alerted by the male’s skin color and the female’s hijab.

“We temporarily restrict access, we will also refuse to provide service, as a private institution,” the waiter said.

The explanation of the waiters, which Daria recorded on the mobile, shocked her fiancé.

“I did not understand what was happening, and when she explained to me - I was shocked, what if I was white, blond and had blue eyes?” says Khalid Ayman.

He is a citizen of Somalia and a British citizen, Daria is a Ukrainian citizen, she is a lecturer at the University. She has dreamed for a long time to get her fiancé acquainted with her hometown, because the couple has been together for 7 years.

They immediately submitted a report to the police who promised to investigate the case.

Subsequently, Daria called the facility owner, but her excuse only shocked the couple.

“She asked to accept her apologies, but said: why did you not show your passport to confirm you are a Ukrainian citizen when you entered? We were just shocked, and she said she would give us a card and if the personnel changes, they will know that we are allowed to go in. That is, this situation will be repeated over and over again, as there may be anyone else in our place,” Daria says.

At the restaurant, the waiters do not seem to care much about what happened. All of them are students. The facility owner asserts, "What happened is an unpleasant incident and nothing more."

“I have no racial or other bias either towards foreigners or our people,” said Lyudmila Muray, the restaurant owner.

However, she does not deny – they know all foreigners among the locals personally and really refuse to let them in because once those foreigners went on a rampage in the restaurant.

“We have introduced restrictions for the safety of our visitors. You understand why.” Some ethnic Arabs, let us say, went on a rampage in the restaurant, we called the police as they get in together with our girls,” the restaurant owner explained.

After Daria’s call, the consumer rights protection service took notice of the restaurant. Experts plan to hold unscheduled checks at the restaurant – violations are obvious, they claim.

"There is also a violation of the law on advertising - as there are certain signs of discrimination, the law on the protection of consumer rights because they were denied the provision of service. We will check this all,” said Vitaliy Moiseenko, Head of the Main Department of the State Consumer Service in Sumy region.

The restaurant manager may receive a fine of UAH 8,000. And not only, lawyers explain.

"These persons’ actions come within the purview of the criminal code, that is, the violation of the equality of citizens based on their national or religious affiliation. And sanctions of this article provide for a fine or restriction of liberty for up to 5 years,” lawyer Victor Zatsepin comments.

Khalid and Daria are not planning to forgive the humiliation they experienced. They are going to continue to defend their rights.