Wales wants to be the world's first 'nation of sanctuary' for asylum seekers. Is it possible?

Wales aspires to be the world’s first nation of sanctuary – a safe, welcoming and compassionate home for refugees and asylum seekers. Launched in 2019, its ambitious 23-point plan focuses on housing, education, employment and integration and was endorsed by the United Nations.

But with escalating anti-migrant rhetoric and growing need for support, the nation of sanctuary dream is becoming more difficult to implement. 

More than 2,800 asylum seekers received support in Wales last year – a 15% increase since 2023 – and a total of 1,488 refugees have been resettled since 2016. Meanwhile, Reform UK is gathering voters ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections, threatening the sanctuary agenda.

Read more:

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• Labour has shot itself in the foot on immigration – but it’s not too late to change course

Immigration policy is not devolved and the Welsh government is subject to the whims of Westminster, with Keir Starmer recently proposing further blocks to settlement. But amid this challenging context, perhaps Wales’ commitment to welcoming refugees is even more important. 

Sidra Rahimy, a community engagement officer at the Welsh Refugee Council who has experience of seeking asylum and is based in Swansea, says there’s a “recognition” in Wales that sanctuary seekers are “part of life”. She felt that wasn’t the case when she sought asylum in the North East of England.

“We were a very small and invisible community. I felt like we were an afterthought, or even not to be acknowledged. But here in Wales, the impression that I’ve gotten is we understand that this community exists here, that they have diverse needs, and that we are going to try in whatever capacity we can to support them. We might not have all the tools, but they’re willing to experiment with what little resources councils might have.”

Roozbeh, an asylum seeker who lives in Cardiff with his family, says that he too has been made to feel “welcome” in Wales and has been met with “kindness”. He has been supported by local charity Oasis and has made friends, including fellow Iranian refugee Morteza Ehsani, who says Welsh people are “kindly” and adds: “I think all of us are very happy here.”

Cardiff was recognised as a city of sanctuary in 2014, part of the national movement of city groups where local people and organisations work together to provide a safe home for asylum seekers. It was the seventh in the UK and the second in Wales, after Swansea.

Abbas Radaideh, who started out as a volunteer and is now the chair of Cardiff City of Sanctuary, describes how there are libraries of sanctuary, schools of sanctuary, and universities of sanctuary which have programmes of support.

There are also extensive efforts to help refugees learn English – as well as projects to teach Welsh laguage, which research shows can build connections to Welsh culture and heritage. Mike Chick, researcher at the University of South Wales, says this “creates more of an understanding of where they are – Wales – and we want to create a multilingual mindset so that all languages are valid”.

Every year, there is a sanctuary event in the Senedd, where people can “raise any issue” to improve life for asylum seekers. Its aim is to hear people’s concerns and act on them.

“We are proud of our ambition for Wales to become a nation of sanctuary,” says a spokesperson for the Welsh government. “We’re committed to helping people thrive and to embracing the benefits migrants and sanctuary seekers bring to our communities and economy.”

However, there remains a “postcode lottery” in Wales, says Sabiha Azad, a coalition coordinator at the Welsh Refugee Council. “Generally the infrastructure exists in Cardiff in a way that it doesn’t really in Newport, Swansea and Wrexham,” she explains.

All 22 local authorities have agreed to house refugees and asylum seekers – although some areas have less capacity to provide support. 

“We are seeing people who are unintentionally displacing themselves to seek support and more culturally-sensitive support,” Azad explains. “We see it a lot in Wrexham. Wrexham has done a lot to diversify, but a lot of people try to leave as soon as they get status, because the closest Halal shop is Liverpool. People can’t thrive in spaces that don’t reflect their needs.”

Labour has led every Welsh government since devolution in 1999, but the latest polling estimates the party will get just 18% of the votes in next year’s Senedd elections. That puts both Plaid Cymru and Reform ahead, with 30% and 25% respectively. 

While Plaid Cymru has committed to honouring the vision for the nation of sanctuary, Reform UK has dismissed the ambition. On social media, the Welsh division of Nigel Farage’s party posted: “Over 10,000 crossings already this year and Labour wants Wales to be a ‘nation of sanctuary’. They won’t stop the boats. They won’t protect our borders. Only Reform will.”

Salah Rasool, head of services at the Welsh Refugee Council, says rising support for Reform in Wales is “worrying”. 

“I have talked to people who want to give Reform a chance, because of the history of the UK’s two main political parties. It’s increasing and it’s worrying. No matter how much good you try to do, there is always some negativity,” he says.

There were no riots in Wales last year, while other areas across the country saw right-wing groups gather in masses – any small group that came together in Wales was met with a much larger counter-protest welcoming refugees and asylum seekers.

But there remain concerns. The Welsh Refugee Council has been directly impacted by the rise in right-wing commentary – it had to shut services for a few days at the beginning of the year after Elon Musk shared a defamatory post accusing the charity of using videos of girls to “entice migrant men to Wales”. Staff and volunteers faced harassment as a result.

“It is a constantly changing situation and that we are kind of reacting and responding to, and how we can continue to be that voice for good and contribute positively,” says Rosa Brown, communications and engagement officer at the Welsh Refugee Council.

Evelyn James, anti-racism manager at housing equality organisation Tai Pawb, adds: “The negative rhetoric that keeps coming up about refugees and asylum seekers desperately needs to change. It’s not a crime for someone to face conflict and flee for their lives. It’s human nature that when something happens to you, you go into your flight mode and immediately you’re looking for safety.

“It would be great to see the positives being put out there about the amazing work and contributions that actually these people are adding to the economy, to the nation.Some of them were doctors before conflict happened. Some were lawyers. Some had dreams going on. Some of the children are as bright as they can be. We need to start countering those negative narratives with the positives.”

People often feel “dehumanised” by the asylum process in the UK, says Beth Kidd, the Wales Sanctuary Service programme and partnership manager.

“We often have people saying: ‘I feel like an animal.’ The main thing is the lack of power. People don’t have any ability to choose where they live, who they live with. They’re not able to work. They get moved at short notice, and have to rebuild all the connections that they’ve made. They are kept in limbo.”

Wales was praised for its 2022 Welcome Ticket scheme offering free transport to refugees, but the initiative ended last year. Campaigners are urging its return. Asylum seekers get no recourse to public funds, receiving a weekly allowance of just under £50 a week, and they are not allowed to work. There are also difficulties with housing.

Wales typically houses people in alternative accommodation to asylum hotels, where people often face poor and crowded conditions, as the Big Issue has previously reported. In 2023, there were only two asylum hotels in Wales whereas there were 363 in England. As of 2024, just 53 asylum seekers were in hotels in Wales, compared with nearly 30,000 across the UK.

However, there are occasional plans to house refugees in hotels in Wales – which has led to “ugly situations”, such as protests outside the Stradley Park Hotel in Llanelli, which was set to house around 200 asylum seekers. Those plans were shelved last year.

After being awarded refugee status, people have 56 days to find new accommodation – recently extended from 28 days on a trial basis until June. 

Gareth Lynn Montes, housing policy and research lead at the Welsh Refugee Council, says: “It is expensive and unaffordable to find housing. Wales has recently been marked as one of the least affordable places to live in the whole of the UK. Rents are higher and social housing waiting lists are incredibly long.”

Landlords often demand British guarantors and there is stigma and discrimination against refugees and others from ethnic minority groups. Lynn Montes says people they support are spending up to a year in temporary accommodation.

James adds: “Regardless of whether the roof is skewed or the house is infested with rats, or whatever the state of the accommodation that you have been given, you just have to suck it up, because apparently it’s a roof over your head that has been provided, and you should be grateful.”

She stressed that the government needs to “listen to the lived experience of refugees and understand the dire situation that they are facing”. “It’s not just about not having accommodation, but the health effects. It’s losing your child as a result of poor living conditions.

“No one wants to be homeless. Nobody wakes up in the morning and wants to leave their comfort space and go to a place and decide to be homeless and start seeking support. They are human beings, first of all, and entitled to safe and comfortable places to live.”

Sammi Ghaderi, an Iranian asylum seeker based in Cardiff, says he has been moved five or six times in the two and a half years since he came to the UK. 

“I still don’t know what happened. When you have this kind of problem, you can’t imagine your goals or ambitions. It’s almost like you lost your way. I’m confused. I changed my view of myself, like most asylum seekers,” he says.

“In the beginning, I thought after I learned English, I could work. I could be useful for society. I could be useful for myself, my city and other people. I feel bad that after many years with experience and a job, you lose all of them. You come here and you can’t do anything.”

His friend Navid Hjyani has been going through the asylum process in the UK for three years and is also based in Cardiff. “For me, it’s like I didn’t have any identity. The view of people in the UK is that we must be useful to society, but unfortunately the government didn’t give us permission to work.”

Both men are supported by charity Oasis, which is based in Cardiff and helps up to 250 asylum seekers and refugees every day with housing, healthcare, education, employment and more. It provides free cooked lunch every day, where people from all over the world come together and eat, and a social space in the old Methodist Church where the organisation is based.

“We’re really supportive of the Welsh Government’s ambition to be a nation of sanctuary. It is a challenge because of devolution,” says Tomos Owen, the deputy chief executive officer at Oasis. “Immigration is a UK government issue, but there are devolved competencies – housing, healthcare – that really do impact our clients. I think it’s still a big challenge. 

“At the moment, we’d certainly like to see more delivery of the nation of sanctuary plan. We still have really nice stories from clients that do say they love Wales and they find it really friendly. But certainly in the last sort of year or 18 months, we’ve seen more cases of hate crimes, and there’s certainly more tension in the community.”

There is overwhelming support for Wales’ plan to become a nation of sanctuary – but challenges with immigration policy, public opinion and the fact that Labour may not have power in the Senedd next year could all put the ambition at risk. Campaigners are urging the public to show their support and welcome refugees.

Rahimy says: “It’s been a long time since there was conflict here, so maybe it’s not part of the collective memory anymore as to why somebody might have to flee. But people have diverse reasons for why they have to leave their homes. Nobody would choose to do it if they could make any other choice.”

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