Ukrainian Refugees

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:19 pm on 1 March 2023.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:19, 1 March 2023

Thank you very much for that question. Can I make it absolutely clear that no-one, no Ukrainian guest, has been forced to leave a welcome centre? And they will not be. It is very important to recognise that we've welcomed in Wales—and we had a fantastic event on Monday morning where we had Ukrainians speaking about their views and their thoughts, marking that terrible anniversary, as we did last Friday, of Putin's invasion, where we recognised that Wales is a nation of sanctuary. And we've welcomed just over 6,400 Ukrainians under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and almost 3,400 have been sponsored by Welsh households, and many of the hosts came to that event on Monday; the Llywydd was there as well at the welcome. And we have sponsored over 3,000, the Welsh Government.

When we looked at this a year ago, the horrors of the invasion, we said that we thought we could, through our supersponsor scheme, support 1,000, but, actually, we've supported 3,000. We also have more with visas, and if they come, we will support them and we will get them into temporary initial accommodation, which are our Welsh welcome centres. So, no-one has been moved out of a welcome centre, no-one is going to be made homeless from that initial temporary accommodation. Indeed, what is good news is that 1,300 of those that the Welsh Government have sponsored have moved into longer term accommodation, and more than 800 have settled in Wales.