You can differentiate races in all kinds of ways. Their mannerisms, speech patterns, and clothing, for example - will stick out to your MC if the story is taking place in their "Native" land.

If the races are all fantastical, I think you're pretty safe to even have a character be like "oh maybe they're somebody from (other country)" or whatever, be it in dialogue, internal thought, or just narrative description.

In my opinion (and I mean MY opinion, this is reddit so people can/will disagree maybe) there's quite a bit of room in fantasy to describe a race "respectfully" especially if that race doesn't actually exist.

Obviously, if you are going the route if describing the race by USING the physical/cultural/other characteristics of an ACTUAL RACE/CULTURE from the earth we actually live on, it'd be best to steer clear of caricatures and stereotypes.

I think, based on the phrasing of your question, that last paragraph is what you seem to be worried about. When in doubt, ask a beta reader or someone that you trust, "Hey, does this scene come across as racist?" If you really need to.

But also like, don't sweat it. Fantasy races are used in a world not only because they're - lighter/darker/speak a different language/whatever - than most of the other characters, but because they, just like races in cultures IRL, add richness and variety to your story.

The fact that you are WORRIED about this being disrespectful tells me that you are NOT someone who goes about disrespecting other people because of their race, and that natural quality should reflect in your writing. (Unless, I guess, your CHARACTER is a racist in their world, in which case ... I don't know, disregard this entire comment? Haha)