‘My children are respected here and they feel welcomed’
Some things never change – and one of those is the way in which Wales has always welcomed those seeking a better life for themselves and their families. At the start of Refugee Week, Ruth Mosalski meets two people among the latest who have found a welcome
WALES has changed a lot in 30 years. Mrs Thatcher is no longer Prime Minister, prescriptions don’t cost £2.40 anymore, and Coventry definitely didn’t win the FA Cup this year.
But for two people who have fled their countries, one thing hasn’t changed – it’s Wales being a welcoming nation.
Larysa Agbaso is a 40-year-old who fled her native Ukraine three years ago. Eid Ali Ahmed is a 68-year-old who left his native Somaliland in 1987.
She fled her home in the Ukraine three years ago facing persecution and fearing the war tearing up her country. He too fled war. While Eid had been given refugee status within a year, three years on Larysa is still waiting to find out if she will be given refugee status in Britain.
She was moved to Newport, a city which has welcomed her with open arms.
The pair met last week as part of a Red Cross initiative called The Conversation where refugees and asylum seekers sit together to discuss their shared experiences.
As Larysa spoke to Eid about her home country and her family, she broke down in tears.
She came to the UK three years ago with her family. Her husband is Nigerian and they have three children.
“We had problems in the Ukraine because of our race and conflict in our town between Russia and the Ukraine.
“I miss my parents and my friends but I when I think of my house and everything being happy, it is still in my mind. I wish I would not see it again – I want to keep it in my mind the way I saw it the last time.
“As the war started everything was destroyed. I don’t want to see the place, it’s in my mind like it was.
“You try not to remember it and to tell your children that place doesn’t exist again, to try and forget but then they tell you they remember that place and what they did with their grandparents.”
Eid could sympathise, telling Larysa his own story of heartbreak at being separated from his family and in particular his mother.
“I remember I was at a telephone box, I put the money in and I called her. She was with her family. When I heard her voice I cried. I was shouting. Then, while I was crying and shouting, a policeman tapping my back and he said are you alright, and I looked at him and said I am and then I saw all the people there.”
Eid said that it was Wales’ history that made it a more tolerant place. When he arrived there was already people from across the world here.
Both talk in glowing terms of the Wales they moved to.
Eid can recall going to Norway on holiday and the reaction being a million miles from the one he experienced in Wales.
“In Oslo, there were very few black people, but I went to another town where there were no black people at all. When I arrived they were all waiting. It was a small town and so many people waiting to look at me and some even wanted to touch me because they hadn’t seen a black person before. But now Norway has so many black people with refugees of different nationalities.
“It was just something new for them to experience. In Africa it was the same for white people,” he said.
Larysa too has seen a welcoming multi-cultural country. In the Ukraine she says her children were victimised because of their race.
“The most important thing for my children is that they feel respected here. They can go to school and go to school themselves. Back home, when I had to take them to school and back because we were afraid of people who would attack them because of their race. They have freedom and feel welcomed”.
She said: “When we came her the first thing I was impressed with was the multi-cultural society. I can say it was the first time we had experienced going out and nobody was looking at us and staring at the kids. Nobody was pointing at my husband. I was amazed by the attitude of people. We obviously had a completely different lifestyle over here. We had to claim asylum but we’re still in that process three years on”.
When Eid came to Britain, he admitted gaining refugee status was “easy” – easier for people trying now – but getting a job wasn’t.
“This country wasn’t new to me. I