To think my Ukranian guests are reasonable in refusing to engage with the council's support worker?\

[listsandbudgets]

We've had a group of 3 Ukrainians with us now since April. The council like to make regular checks to make sure everything is going well and so far it's been fine. However their caseworker changed in September and the new one is Russian. She emails them in Russian and phone to talk to them in Russian and is generally very pushy insisting on coming to see them at times to suit her and then not turning up - they took a couple of hours off work last week to be available. Its not the first time either

They've now written and said they will not communicate with her any further as long as she continues to speak / write in Russian as they find it upsetting. They CAN speak Russian but they don't want to and honestly right now I don't blame them. They've asked her several times to use English or Ukrainian or even Polish or German (they have grasp of them all to varying degrees) but she responds in Russian.

AIBU to think that this is utterly insensitive

I wouldn’t be overly generous or open- ended with your offer of staying for ‘a while’ as they do need to start making plans, or you’ll end up in a tricky situation.

Agreed- they should insist on English speaking only.

So if someone told you not to communicate in English...
They have offered several other languages they're willing to communicate in, including the native language of this country. If she won't or cant communicate in anything other than Russian, she needs to talk to her manager (presumably in English) and ask for them to be reassigned to someone who will.

But surely then she could be reassigned to someone else who is happy speaking in Russian?

I have no idea how it would feel in the OPs guest situation but I think moving to a different country/culture because of war would be traumatising. It may be some Ukrainian's first language so surely she could help them instead.

Who in their right mind would assign a Russian support worker to a Ukrainian family? It beggars belief!

I would insist that as their friend/ landlord you need everything to be in english

This is a good point. You are supporting them, it would be helpful for you to know what the next steps are in a language you are familiar with.

YANBU - it's staggeringly insensitive on the part of the local authority...

People need to stop finding excuses for the Support Worker to carry on speaking in Russian. It should be self-evident what the poor family find it abhorrent. If they don't want to communicate in the language of their country's invaders then they have every right not to be forced into it.

YADNBU. Yes, please complain on their behalf. At best this caseworker is spectacularly insensitive.

Thatsvawful but maybe they don't have any Ukrainian speakers. Does she speak Ukrainian but refuse to do so?

I have worked for multinationals for decades and it is absolutely standard practice to tell employees that they must use the international business language, namely English, when conversing with colleagues from a different country.

Complain to your MP and your local councillors

It would be worth your Ukrainian guests contacting AUGB (the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain) so they are aware. They should be able to source suitable UkrainIan speaking advnG

Advocates!

Also i understand that local authorities receive £10k per Ukraine refugee from central government. On the ground it seems like very little of that is. reaching the refugees
For Example In my city refugees only received a 5 day bus card on arrival (£20) and each household received a £200 supermarket gift card. They couldn't buy clothesw Or shoes with the vouchers

I think people don’t quite understand the language thing.

I have six Ukrainian guests. A family. Their first language is Russian. They all speak Russian day in day out. The mother is 40 and so grew up in the Soviet Union when Ukraine was not independent and everyone spoke Russian. They explained that lots of Ukrainians don’t speak Ukrainian very often . Think if it as being like living in Wales. A lot of Welsh people living in Wales don’t/can’t speak Welsh.

if England was at war with wales there would be millions of English people with strong welsh connections/ancestry/sympathies etc. For an English person and a welsh person to communicate the natural language would be English because most if not all welsh people speak English but very few English people speak Welsh.

I think people shouldn’t jump to conclusions that the Russian council worker is some sort of “baddie” trying to cause offence and upset by speaking a language they all speak fluently. It’s unlikely that all of them can speak English as fluently.

Im not saying something shouldn’t be said but it’s unlikely to be the case that she’s getting some sort of kick out of speaking Russian in front of them.

They have offered four language options, including English. It doesn't have to be Ukrainian.

if England was at war with wales there would be millions of English people with strong welsh connections/ancestry/sympathies etc. For an English person and a welsh person to communicate the natural language would be English because most if not all welsh people speak English but very few English people speak Welsh

But this is a third country. It would be more like if Wales invaded England, and English refugees went to France. Their support worker was from Wales and insisted on speaking to them in Welsh.

Yes, there are plenty of Russian speaking Ukrainians. And also Russians who are sympathetic to Ukrainians and oppose the war. That doesn’t take away from the fact that this woman a) is speaking Russian against the expressed wish of OP’s refugees and b) not turning up to appointments she has made with them.

In short, she’s not doing the job well and they are perfectly reasonable in requesting a different support worker.

But this is a third country. It would be more like if Wales invaded England, and English refugees went to France. Their support worker was from Wales and insisted on speaking to them in Welsh.

No, only if the refugees spoke Welsh as their first language. The point is that most Ukrainians, particularly those from urban areas, speak Russian as their first langauge. So it really isn't as shocking as you would think to speak Russian. I was pleasantly surprised when my guests arrived since I speak some Russian but no Ukrainian at all. They speak exclusively in Russian (and now English). The little ones don't know any Ukrainian, they go to school much later and all of their contacts in their lives have always spoken Russian.

I'm simply saying it is unlikely that she is in the role she is in and is doing it out of malice of some sort since it would be an odd form of malice. Most Ukrainians would be grateful to be able to communicate fluently with their case worker in a language that they don't have to constantly think about since it's natural to them.

Obviously the failure to turn up to appointments is a completely different point and could happen irrespective of the language thing.

Then I would not communicate with them in English. I would use the other language option available to me.

Surely that is obvious?

I'm a (clunky) Russian speaker. A pal who is soon to house a Ukrainian refugee has asked me to chip in with language help if needed - she's also asked a Polish friend.
I would completely respect the Ukrainian person's wish not to engage in Russian. Their country has been invaded by Russians. Even if they speak beautiful Russian why should they use that language.
It certainly helps to have a common language in an emergency but not as the standard means of communication if they are unhappy with it. Trauma messes with you very seriously.

I'm simply saying it is unlikely that she is in the role she is in and is doing it out of malice of some sort since it would be an odd form of malice

Don't you think it's odd to continue down that road when there are other valid options though? It might not be malicious but it's at best completely inconsiderate.

I would start off the engagement by saying in Russian "I'm sorry. I don't speak Ukrainian. I speak Russian but I understand if you prefer slow English "

The council worker should, by now, have written material translated into Ukrainian

It may be their first language, but if you were working in another country, say France, and you were dealing with someone from Spain, and you both can speak French, then it should all be done in that language!

Firstly, the case worker has been asked to speak English, so that should be enough. If they continue to speak in Russian, that's really offensive and unprofessional. Secondly, they may be giving incorrect information to the guests, and the host won't know. Let's face it, the case worker is antagonising the guests, rather than helping them as it is their duty to do.

I second this. I was born in Ukraine, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. We learned Ukranian at school, but at home we spoke Russian (not just my family).
I’ve lived in Europe for several years, had Ukrainian friends and again, we spoke Russian to each other because that was the language we grew up with.
Now in the UK I’ve met several Ukranian refugees, some of them speak Ukranian, some speak Russian.
I know a Ukranian woman who does a lot of volunteering with the refugees - she understands both languages, but can express herself better in Russian, so that’s the language she usually uses.
English is not always an option, many of the people she works with only have very basic English skills.