4. Statement by the Leader of the House and Chief Whip: Refugee Week — Wales, a Nation of Sanctuary

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:45 pm on 19 June 2018.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 3:45, 19 June 2018

Thanks very much for your statement in Refugee Week. I don't think you're going to find any real disagreement with the information and the sentiments that you've expressed. You say that all of us in the Chamber here should do one simple thing to show our support for refugees and asylum seekers by embracing the concept of Wales as a nation of sanctuary. I'm pleased that I ensured that that was in our 2016 Welsh Conservative manifesto as a commitment and, as you might recall, I sponsored and hosted the Sanctuary in the Senedd event at the back end of 2016 accordingly. 

You referred to support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. When we had a statement in November 2016, it was the time that we'd heard that the horrible Jungle camp in Calais was closing down, and that the British and French Governments were registering unaccompanied children who were hoping to join relatives in the UK. I then asked whether the Welsh Government had any indication of whether those figures provided were accurate, or how many of those children had come, or were coming, to Wales. I'm wondering whether you have any more up-to-date information now, 18 months down the road, over whether—and in what volume or what number—those children arrived here, and what particular support they might have received. 

You refer to integration of refugees and asylum seekers. Again, you might be aware that early last month I hosted an event in the Assembly called 'Let us integrate through music and art', put on by the North Wales Association for Multicultural Integration, of which I'm honorary president, and Cwmbran-based KIRAN, Knowledge-based Intercommunity Relationship and Awareness Network, born, they say, out of necessity to have an engaged community where members have knowledge of different sociocultural backgrounds. Only two weeks ago, I had a meeting here with the Welsh Refugee Council, the North Wales Association for Multicultural Integration and the charity CAIS, who are working in partnership to break down barriers and increase understanding of each other's cultures. So, in terms of supporting the integration message, how are you engaging with these trailblazing organisations that are doing their own bit and increasingly building a joined-up network themselves to deliver that integration message in practice in our communities, on our streets and in our rural areas too across Wales? 

Sadly, as you know, some refugees and asylum seekers become victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, and I know I'm slightly going off piste here, but there are a number of charities again working in this area, including Haven of Light in north Wales, who are having a modern slavery forum on 12 October. So, in terms of this agenda, how are you engaging not just with the commissioner but with the other agencies working together, statutory and third sector, regarding the particular refugee and asylum seeker issues applying to this group of victims?

My final question relates to acceptance of refugees. The figures published for refugees resettled in Wales last year show that Merthyr Tydfil and Neath Port Talbot were the only councils that accepted no refugees, in the figures they provided. Carmarthenshire was highest with 51, and Swansea with 33. In north Wales, Denbighshire had 21, but falling to five in Flintshire and only two in Conwy. So, how are you helping local authorities establish this understanding and awareness of the critical mass and the will to ensure, perhaps, a better distribution, so that the lead established in one part of Wales can be replicated elsewhere? Thank you.