Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date Official UN visit after seeing Putin. Kinda says it all about what Putin thinks of the UN.
We have some families living with us now. Hard work at times, particularly when they can't stand not having work on every second of the day. Also pretty awful hearing the stories you read about first hand.
I imagine that they feel fairly traumatised, anxious and disoriented, and will still be on an emotional rollercoaster so yeah, they'll be emotionally hard work and draining. You may find the Psychological First Aid model helpful in making sense of their needs and how you can respond (there is a free online course here; I am not suggesting you train to become a Psychological First Aider, but it will give you a framework for knowing what to expect and how you can respond). You've already supplied them with the most important practical needs: food, warmth, safety/shelter; and you can continue supporting them with practical tasks. You have also already been helpful in just listening: their telling you their experiences is a way for them to process what happened. Help them name their feelings and then remind them of the positive coping responses they were able to use to remind them of their agency. They will also need stabilisation: regular reminders that they are safe now, and a sense of stability and predictability, and help to identify their own usual psychological coping strategies. Since they have been dislocated from their usual community, they will need connection with other refugees like themselves, but also with your local community: a network of people that they can feel embedded in. If they can be given some tasks to help contributing to the household that will help them, but I expect that for the first month or so they'll just be exhausted and collapse in a heap. You may have to do a lot of the daily practical thinking for them during that time. See if you can get them to teach you some basic Ukrainian, since that gives them something empowering to do and helps them build connection. They also need a sense of hope; that things will not always be this bad. For you there will be vicarious trauma: feeling affected by their horror stories, and feeling rattled in your own view of the world as a relatively safe, predictable place in which you have some control and things make sense. Refugees can seem demanding (the first instinctive expression of insecurity is to demand caregiving) and you may also at times feel annoyed, exasperated and even angry with them --and then you will feel guilty. Don't --it's all normal. By opening your home to them, you've also opened it to their trauma, and that is bound to affect you too. I gather there are some mental health resources being set up for refugees, but make sure to look after yourself and get your own support network going. I am not yet aware of psychological support for those housing refugees... PM me if you want some psychological advice or just talk and let off steam, but make sure you get your own support. What you're doing is a Big Noble Thing, a lot more so even than people may realise. You have my deepest respect.
As ever an awesome reply from Nexxo, but I wanted to quote this and echo it. I'm not really in a position to do this, but I wish I was, props to you.
Beats me why there is no framework in place to remove a country from the Security Council in such circumstances or, at least remove their voting rights and right to veto.
Agreed. Anyone willing to take someone in need into their home to help/support them deserves respect (and support themselves). We have friends that are taking in a Ukranian family, and we would ourselves if we had the space.
Sounds about Priti's speed. I'm sort of surprised she hasn't been detained under the mental health act yet. Even by the standards of the conservatives she seems to revel in pointless cruelty. Unless of course the cruelty is the point.
When they stop the deportation flights at some point and switch to armbands to identify foreigners they can even claim to be saving us money
Not that this lets them of the hook for GPS tagging, but I think it was more of a historical comparison:
So Turkey has suddenly decided to support NATO membership for Sweden and Finland. I'd dearly love to know just what and how much that grubby little ****er demanded to lift his veto. I'm willing to bet it was a lot and Russia couldn't match it.
Better a deal on this than a stalemate. And keeping Turkey inside the tent is probably better than pushing they out.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62750584 Thinking this kind of thing going on in Russia, far from suppressing dissent among the powerful, might infact embolden them and be Putin's downfall. I'm sure those wealthy dissenters are not beyond bribing senior Russian generals.
