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 4:22 pm on 19 June 2018.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:22, 19 June 2018

Yes, that's a really great initiative. The more that can be encouraged to ensure that young people have a mutual understanding of how they got to be where they are, and what they bring to the classroom, the better.

She asked a number of questions, which I can just quickly say something about. We are very interested in looking at schemes to recognise other qualifications, but actually what we want to do first is see if we can extend the medical one to other clinicians, and then extend it out. I'm due to have conversations with various Cabinet Secretaries about how we can take that forward as part of the work that we were doing, because I'm very keen that we should allow people to make the full contribution that they can make to our society.

In terms of the work, we haven't made any headway, I'm sorry to say, about allowing asylum seekers to work, but there is even an issue with volunteering, because you're only allowed to volunteer with a charity. In large parts of rural Wales, if you can't volunteer with a business, then you're not really going to be able to volunteer at all. So, I've made that point forcibly a number of times to UK Government Ministers, and we are hopeful that they will at least look at that bit of it. But there's no meeting of minds on the subject of work in general.

In terms of what asylum seekers give back—and after all, Deputy Presiding Officer, this is a celebration of refugees and asylum seekers, and we've hit a somewhat doleful note with some of the problems—I will just highlight that, in my own constituency, as well as in many others that many Members have already mentioned, there is a brilliant asylum seekers' writing project. They write the most incredible stories and poems, sometimes about their experiences, but sometimes just general things. It really is a great scheme. I have a number of books that, for a small donation to a charity of my choice, I can share with you. You can just read them in my room if you're not prepared to put your hand in your pocket for the charity, but I do have a large supply of them, should Members want to take advantage of that, because I support that project.

I just want to say this: Refugee Week is an umbrella festival. The events have a wide range of arts, voluntary, faith and refugee community organisations, school student groups and more, and they include arts festivals, exhibitions, film screenings, theatre and dance performances, concerts, football tournaments and public talks, as well as creative and educational activities in schools. So, Deputy Presiding Officer, despite the gloom and despondency that we seem to have been experiencing, which I understand entirely, I do want to emphasise that this is a festival of a celebration of the contribution that refugees and asylum seekers make to our society.