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 4:25 pm on 19 June 2018.

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Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 4:25, 19 June 2018

Thank you. I wasn't going to speak and then I felt that I wanted to, because I've done quite a lot of work in this area, and when somebody mentioned earlier 'these people' I suddenly thought of the fact that they're not just 'these people', they have names: Ahin Ahmed, Ibrahim Saba are just some of the ones that I've met. I think that, sometimes, we talk about people without considering that they are actually humans in our society, and I think that's how we need to frame the debate, and that they have so much to give to us as well. So, the positivity I would like to bring is not only that we help them, but they can help us, be it through new cultures, be it through new ways of living, new rituals that we can learn about, new foods or new tastes, and I think that's something that we should all take away from those who come to Wales.

I think it's important, would you not agree with me, that organisations such as Bloom in Swansea and the Swansea Humanitarian Aid Response Project are worth mentioning? Because there are many unsung heroes in all of this—volunteers who are either retired or young people who are juggling, helping asylum seekers by translating, just trying to be as supportive as they possibly can, and delivering goods to others. I visited an asylum seeker last week and her pram was falling to pieces. Within five minutes of me asking on Facebook, somebody had delivered me a pram and I took it to her on Saturday. This was a really expensive piece of goods that she would just not have been able to have afforded if it wasn't for the hospitality of somebody that I knew. So, I think that's the positive that comes from all of this.

The only issues that I had was wanting to raise with you some questions with regard to the Syrian resettlement scheme. That's coming to an end soon, so I'm just wondering whether you know that there's going to be sufficient follow through, and because those funding streams are coming to an end that we know that those Syrian refugees are not going to be left isolated, and are going to have the support mechanisms around them.

I would also say that the housing allocations are simply not up to scratch at the moment. I'm visiting families who are on top of hills, pushing prams, without access to bus routes, and they feel isolated. They're in the house all day, and do you know what? I think that the UK Government want that to happen, quite often. They want them to stay in their houses, isolated, because they don't want them to make friends, they don't want them to feel part of a community, because that serves them when they come to the decision to deport them, quite often. Perhaps I'm cynical, but I think that has something to do with the allocations and where those houses are. So, I would urge you to use all the influence that you have in relation to that.

For example, in Neath Port Talbot, we simply don't have anywhere that sells halal food. They've got to take the trip to Swansea to find that food. I've written to Tesco, I've written to different outlets in Neath Port Talbot, asking if they can provide halal food, and they simply say no, they don't have the demand. Well, if that's the case, how are they accommodating those very people who are the most vulnerable, who will only eat that food in their everyday lives?

The thing I wanted to finish on was this: I was shocked the other day, again visiting a family, who said that her children were refused a school uniform grant because they weren't Syrian refugees. Allegedly there's no two-tier system, but if her children who are from a different country are deemed not as important as Syrian refugees, then that's going to create tension between refugees and asylum seekers that we simply do not need in an age where they already feel persecuted. So, if you could do anything in relation to sending updated guidance to schools, I would be very grateful for that.