People fleeing the war in Ukraine for the safety of European border towns include citizens of countries in Africa, Asia and the Mideast, people whose lives have been upended along with those of Ukrainians but who in some cases say they are experiencing mistreatment.

The trains and buses taking people west to Poland, Romania, Hungary and other European Union nations are carrying significant numbers of foreign students, workers and others who considered Ukraine home before Russia invaded its neighbor last week.

At a refugee center set up in Bucharest, Romania’s capital, some Indian citizens told that Ukrainian border guards gave fellow Ukrainians priority in getting out of the country and attempted to physically push non-Ukrainians back.

Vishwajeet Kumar, a 24-year-old medical student, said he heard gunfire and saw people faint during a 20-hour wait at the Romania-Ukraine border.

“They were preparing their own citizens to go first … and barely giving us a chance to cross,” he said. “Every time we got near to the border, they pushed us back.”