‘Wales gave us a home when everyone else shunned us’

WALES has always been a welcoming place.

Whether it’s a friendly chat, a catch-up over a cuppa or a cwtch at the end of a hard day’s work, Wales has always opened its doors to those in need.

But a new Channel 4 documentary showed just what it’s like to move to the country after fleeing your home and start a new life.

The programme, called Britain’s Refugee Children and shown on Wednesday night, followed six children as they adapted to their new lives in the UK, and what it’s like to seek sanctuary from violence and destruction at home.

More than 6,000 children, a third of them arriving alone, sought asylum in the UK last year. Every local authority in Wales volunteered to take refugees.

But in a climate where not everyone agrees with accepting refugees, how do young people cope with a new world, a new country and a new life?

Here is what happened to refugees who came to South Wales and what challenges they faced when they moved here:

Abdul, Rawan and Jana Eleven-year-old Abdul, 12-year-old Rawan and their little sister Jana all arrived from a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey on a plane to Cardiff, meeting their family, who had already settled here and whom they hadn’t seen for six years, at the arrivals gate.

Abdul, who uses a wheelchair for spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive disease that causes severe muscle wasting, was thrilled to even be on the plane.

Originally from Aleppo, the family lived with their grandparents on a farm which had a swimming pool and roof terrace, and ran a thriving family business.

When war broke out, they decided to stay for the first four years, but when fighting intensified, they were forced to flee to Turkey.

On the journey, their extended family became split across different countries, before being reunited in Wales.

“When we fled the country I was eight years old,” Abdul said. “And we were smuggled into Turkey. I was in the wheelchair. It was really diffcult.

“It was tough when we moved to Turkey,” Rawan added. “We didn’t know that we were going to settle there. We thought it was just for a visit and then we’d head home again. But then we settled there and I lost contact with my friends.”

After arriving in the Welsh capital, the family went to a home in Newport organised by the Syrian Venerable Persons Relocation Scheme, with local volunteers helping them with their English.

One of the first hurdles was going to school – and wearing a uniform for the first time.

“In Syria I wore whatever I liked,” Abdul said, “There were no special clothes. What I like most about school is I can make friends. The last school I went to before here was Turkey. It was a bit difficult for me.

“The school had four storeys and I was on the top floor. The thing I didn’t like there was the break between lessons. I wasn’t allowed to go out because of my illness. It was difficult because I didn’t have friends.

“I like my school here. I like all the teachers but I don’t like the school food.”

Mohammed Mohammed, 20, cousin.

He spent three years trying to join his family in the Welsh capital.

“I started from Bulgaria on the way to Germany,” he said. “I spent a month in France and, after that, maybe four months in Brussels. After that, I got in the back of a lorry for 12 hours.”

When he got to Cardiff, he went to the police station and called his dad.

“My father was so surprised and so happy,” he said.

“The first time I saw my family at the front of the door was the happiest moment of my life.”

His father, Ali, has now set up a restaurant called Royal Coast Cafe in Cardiff where most of the staff are refugees.

Originally living and working as a teacher in Abu Dhabi with his wife and four children, Ali went back to Aleppo in 2015 to help his sister who was injured by a bomb.After a terrible incident, he was smuggled out of Syria to Turkey where he boarded a plane for London, he told The Telegraph.

He was granted asylum in 2016. and his family joined him from Turkey.

“We came here to build a better future, especially for our kids,” he said. “I don’t want them to experience anything like those children in Syria.”

During his asylum claim, Mohammed had to sign in every fortnight with the Home Office. But he was detained by the authorities, and taken to an immigration removal centre near Oxford.

The authorities said in 2014 he was given refugee status in Bulgaria when he was held in a refugee camp.

Under international law, his status means he should have settled where he first claimed asylum. But after a cam-

is Abdul and Rawan’s