Al Jazeera apologized for comments that Peter Dobbie, a presenter, made on air when he described Ukrainians fleeing their country as “prosperous, middle class people,” “obviously” not refugees fleeing the Middle East or North Africa: “They look like any European family that you’d live next door to.”

In a statement, the network said the comments, which social media users described as racist, were a breach of its commitment to “impartiality, diversity and professionalism” and that it would be “dealt with through disciplinary measures.”

CBS News’ Charlie D’Agata said he “used a poor choice of words” and apologized “for any offense I may have caused” after earlier insinuating that countries like Iraq or Afghanistan are “relatively” uncivilized.

French network BFM TV told the AFP that journalist Philippe Corbé “regrets” that his “clumsy” comments (“We’re not talking here about Syrians fleeing the bombing of the Syrian regime backed by Putin, we’re talking about Europeans leaving in cars that look like ours to save their lives”) were “taken out of context.”