Slava Shvets, art historian, journalist
Sometimes in a person's head ... a refugee looks like a kind of poor fellow in tatters, with a bundle in which all his simple belongings are tied. Well, maybe pulling a couple more silent grubby children by the hand. He will be pleased with everything, happy with any little thing, after which he will definitely be grateful for the coffin of life.
And this affects not only the quality of the collected humanitarian aid (heavily worn dirty clothes, used blankets, broken prams, very cheap food and household items) - but also manifests itself in a collision with living people. Non-residential premises, a dark closet, a room that is littered with rubbish - all this is offered for housing. After all, a refugee is happy with everything and he does not have to choose.
Few people immediately think that before him there may be people who lived in a social stratum with a higher income - these are people who had their own excellent houses, good expensive cars, clothes and household items. People who lived very well. Much better than the one who offers a closet under the stairs. And he offers it not because he lives in the same place and shares the latest - but because a refugee should be happy with any, absolutely any housing.
In addition to all other horrors, this drop in the standard of living, albeit unconsciously, poisons the already poisoned life of those who have fled.
A huge number of people help by giving the best or equaling their own level. And I'm not talking about them. I am writing about "helpers" in quotation marks, who, at the cost of minimal effort, want to extract triple the benefits from the situation.
Under the pretext of a good deed - throw out old worn things. And it seems like he cleaned the closet - and felt indifferent. But things are nonsense.
Housing is much worse. Occasionally, a man comes across who is ready to provide housing - but only to a young and beautiful woman (sometimes it is possible with a child, sometimes only a childless one) and so that she does not have any husband and, preferably, would not have a family at all. Of course, she must clean and cook in exchange for a roof over her head (it’s not difficult for her, right?), but there, who knows .... and in this place a person may not even understand that he dreams of a slave, of sexual slavery . The real slavery, when one person is completely dependent on another.
Women do approximately the same thing, but without sex - we will shelter a woman with a child, the child should be grown up and not require special care, there should not be a grandmother: we have our own grandmother here, with whom we will need to sit for shelter and food, well, a house clean up, cook and all the little things.
It is amazing how unobvious in the 21st century an attempt to return slavery grows out of people, instantly taking advantage of someone else's misfortune and cramped circumstances.
From the editor:
We are talking about the reception of Ukrainian refugees in European countries.