A resident of Birmingham explained why she evicted a Ukrainian refugee with her son

Birmingham resident Andrea hosted a Ukrainian refugee with her son in her home as part of the Homes for Ukraine program. And soon she was shocked. The guest began to complain that there were “too many Muslims” in the area. Also, the Ukrainian was unhappy that in the school where her son was assigned, “most of the children are black and Asians.” As a result, the residence agreement was terminated. Channel 4 reported on this conflict. We asked our compatriots who live in Birmingham to comment on what happened.

– Birmingham is historically multinational, – says Kirill from St. Petersburg, who studies at the local university. – Whites in Birmingham – about 54%, this is official statistics. The rest of the population belongs to national minorities. The city has a large Muslim diaspora, as well as a significant Buddhist, Sikh and Hindu diaspora. Neither in London, nor Leeds, nor in Manchester have I met so many people from Africa, India and Pakistan as in Birmingham.

Our interlocutor notes that local residents are very tolerant towards other countries and peoples.

– It is not surprising that Andrea, a resident of Birmingham, was shocked by the attitude of a refugee from Ukraine towards local residents. That it was so difficult for her to accept different cultures, people with different skin colors. When I first came to Birmingham to study, I watched with surprise as a man in the park turned on and listened to an audio recording of the Koran through the speakers. And it didn’t bother anyone. Tolerance!

Kirill admits that he is trying to leave the square when refugees with Ukrainian flags on their shoulders appear on it.

“Of course, they try to support them. But in the first place the British have their own traditions. Local residents are used to lining up everywhere. There is such a thing as “orderly queue” – “ordered queue”. And none of the English come forward. I watched as two Ukrainian refugee women squeezed their way to the cash register, bypassing the line, referring to the fact that children were waiting for them in the street. The locals shook their heads and rolled their eyes in disapproval. The queue, in their understanding, is fair and just. And no one should break the order.

Elena has been living in Birmingham for the sixth year and says she still feels like a “stranger” here.

– Birmingham is called the “industrial heart of Great Britain”, it is a million-plus city, where there are many research centers, five universities, many students from different countries, – says Elena. — It is very green, they like to emphasize here that there are as many trees in the city as there are residents. But you need to know the local mentality. Here you have to apologize all the time, even when you stepped on your foot in the crowd. Be prepared that even at the supermarket, the cashier may ask you: “How was your day?” It is expected that you will certainly answer that everything is fine, everything is just fine. Sharing something negative is not accepted.

Lena says that in Birmingham one should not forget about personal space. In public libraries, for example, there may be two or three chairs near the table. But it would never occur to any of the locals to “land” there if someone is already sitting at the table. We need to look for a free table. The same is true on the bus. It is considered bad manners to sit with someone next to the passengers on a double seat if there is free space in the transport.

– You will be considered ill-mannered if you are interested in how much a person receives. A friend who was already graduating from university warned me never, under any circumstances, to take the last piece of food from the table when visiting the British. Otherwise, you can be considered ignorant. Here everything should go on as usual, according to centuries-old traditions. In France, it is customary to eat croissants for breakfast, and in England – small buns – scones. Jam and cream are often served with this pastry. Without fail, you must first put jam on a plate, and only then – cream. And by no means – on the contrary – this is already “barbarism”. But it is considered good form to complain about bad weather. When one day, while talking with neighbors, I screwed up a joke in a conversation, calling the drizzling rain “liquid sunshine” – “liquid sunshine”, I received a bunch of compliments. I was told that I was a “Russian Englishwoman”.

When it comes to immigrants, our interlocutor says that there are really a lot of them in Birmingham.

– At first it was surprising that there were very few white faces on the street – I walked and saw mostly Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs. But then I got used to it. There are many representatives of different nationalities in the student environment. We quickly became friends. We often went to Chinese restaurants to eat steamed dumplings, to Indian restaurants – tandoori chicken.

Lena says that Birmingham is one of the friendliest cities.

– And, of course, the Ukrainian refugee, in my opinion, was wrong. She fled from the bombing and devastation. She was sheltered in Birmingham, provided shelter. And instead of gratitude, she began to complain to the hostess, saying that the area did not suit her, that there were “too many Muslims” here, and “there are a lot of blacks and Asians at her son’s school.” And why is it better than representatives of these nationalities? And where is the elementary gratitude? I think Birmingham resident Andrea did the right thing when she ended her residency agreement. But I am sure that this refugee will go now to demand better conditions for herself. My English friend says about such shameless guests: “They let them into our emerald lawn, and they trampled it down.”

Another of our compatriot Alena, who now lives in Birmingham, says that it is possible to understand both sides of the conflict.

“Andrea, the owner of the house, is used to the fact that people of different nationalities live nearby,” says Alena. – They are friends with each other. And a woman from Ukraine had to leave her house, it is possible that she lost everything, ended up in a completely foreign country for her. Experienced stress. All around is different. I didn’t immediately get used to the fact that there are so many Arabs, Asians, Africans in Birmingham … On the one hand, it’s unusually noisy, people speak different languages, each ethnic group has its own traditions. And then I realized how enriching it is. How interesting it is to comprehend another culture, to look at the world from a different point of view. It is possible that with time a refugee from Ukraine would understand this as well. It is a city with a population as rich as its history.