Welsh refugee welcome centres are full, says minister

Refugee welcome centres set up in Wales to help house arrivals from Ukraine are full, according to a Welsh government minister.

Jane Hutt spoke after it emerged the Urdd youth organisation agreed to house refugees for longer than expected.

There are concerns about a lack of homes for the refugees the Welsh government has agreed to take.

The Welsh super sponsor scheme is currently paused.

It was initially announced for the month of June, but on Tuesday First Minister Mark Drakeford said the scheme will not resume until more people are able to leave the welcome centres into homes.

At least 3,984 visas have been offered for Ukrainian refugees through the scheme, while 1,087 have arrived.

Another 2,803 visas have been issued through individual sponsorship in Wales.

The Urdd is among those who are operating Wales' five welcome centres, set up for the super sponsorship scheme as a transit point before other homes are secured. Another centre has been announced this week, but is not yet up and running.

It was initially planned that refugees would stay in welcome centres for three months.

But in a letter seen by Newyddion S4C the Urdd told parents that it has had a "last minute" request to extend the stay of refugee families until the end of August, later than the originally envisaged date of late July.

The Urdd agreed to the request, and told parents it would continue with summer camps at residential centres at a reduced price.

"We hope you understand our reasoning for continuing to offer support and stability to the refugees in their time of great need," the organisation wrote.

At a press conference, Social Justice Minister Ms Hutt said: "This is not news at all, this is about us working day by day to see have we got the capacity, looking towards opening other welcome centres, and very much welcoming the fact that the Urdd can continue to provide this support as we welcome Ukrainian refugees."

She said "we have paused for a few weeks our super sponsor route because all our welcome centres are full to capacity", before adding that more Welcome Centres are opening.

Mark Drakeford told the Senedd that moving refugees out of welcome centres "is not happening as quickly as we need it to happen".

"Offers of help have to be checked. Police checks have to be carried out. Social services departments haver to visit."

"As soon as we have a balance between people being able to leave the welcome centres and into families, and the number of people want to wishing to come to Wales, then we'll be in a position to reopen the super sponsorship route."

Welsh Tory Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies raised concerns about the resources the Welsh government had put in place.

"You rightly took the plaudits that you identified yourself as a super sponsor government for refugees coming from their horrors that we are seeing in the Ukraine, and we all want to play our part, but you have to identify the resources to marry up to the demand," he said.

Mr Drakeford said they are also working with local authorities to find homes that would otherwise be unoccupied.

He said the Welsh government was supporting refugees with its own resources, and said not a "penny piece" had come from UK government. "People coming from Ukraine have been short-changed by the UK government," he claimed.