Security and warm hearts are refugees’ experience ofWales
Refugees yesterday told the Being Human festival – the UK’s only national festival of the humanities – how they have made a new life in Wales. Thomas Deacon reports...
ASYLUM-seekers have spoken of their new lives in Wales after fleeing persecution. Two women from Pakistan told their stories of why they had to escape their country and the difficulties they faced after arriving in Swansea.
The women spoke at an event, part of the Being Human festival, the UK’s only national festival of the humanities.
Mum-of-two Amber Esther fled Pakistan after her ex-husband tried to force her to accept Islam.
When Amber was ready to leave her home she had no idea what country she would arrive at until an “agent” handed her and her family tickets at the airport.
Carrying just two holdalls, with no warm clothes in December, Amber and her two children began their journey to the UK and eventually to Swansea – a city they had never even heard of.
Amber, 36, said: “It was 2013 when I arrived in Swansea.
“I had never heard about Swansea or Cardiff, we moved from London to Cardiff and then to Swansea.
“It feels different here, actually. It’s like a different world. Peaceful, beautiful, friendly people, warmhearted people – cold weather.
“I found people were very modern there [in other UK cities] than in Swansea, but people are warmerhearted. They are willing to help. That’s the difference.”
Amber said that the cold weather and the language barrier were the biggest difficulties her family faced after arriving.
Amber said: “When I came in 2013 these days community organisations they weren’t actively present, and also at that time I couldn’t speak English. So the language barrier was the most difficult.
“And finding things in Swansea was very difficult.
“They just gave us a map marking the places, they said ‘these are places you go to get your money, where the schools, doctors, surgeries are’, which was difficult.”
Although the number of hate crimes in England and Wales rose by 29% in 2016-2017, according to the Home Office, Amber said she has not faced any discrimination in Wales.
The Home Office said there were more than 62,000 race-hate crimes reported in England and Wales during the period.
Amber said: “Swansea is diverse now so people are accepting of other cultures now.
“My neighbours are Welsh and I am Pakistani Christian. But they accepted me for who and what I am and where I am from.”
Despite her neighbours accepting her beliefs, the reason Amber had to flee her country was because her husband tried to force her to become a Muslim.
Amber said: “I left Pakistan because of my belief and also my ex-husband forced me to accept Islam, so that’s why I left Pakistan behind.
“Leaving home was very tough. It’s not easy just leaving your pet behind, but I left my parents, my friends, my siblings, my house, everything, because of my belief and my children’s life.
“We can get everything we want to, if you have the spirit to live. The thing is who you are, you have to accept it.”
She added: “I left [Pakistan] behind, which was very painful for me, and I have started a new beginning here. I feel secure, I have the right to speak.
“I have right to live my life what I am and who I am, and what I want to be.
“I found myself here, because in Pakistan they have a man-dominated country so they have man power. Women don’t have the power to speak.
“I didn’t even know that was my right, to speak up. And I don’t want to bring back my children to the same process.
“Swansea is of course my home. My children say they are Welsh. They never say they are English or Pakistani. If you ask them where they are from they say Swansea.”
The two women spoke at the ‘Wales/Cymru, refugees, voices, (hi) stories’ event at Swansea Museum yesterday.
The event was introduced by Swansea University academic Dr Kathryn Jones in partnership with Swansea City of Sanctuary and Swansea Museum.
Swansea University’s Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH) was chosen as one of five hubs for Being Human 2017, the UK’s only national festival of the humanities.
Another woman from Pakistan spoke of how she felt like an “alien” when she first arrived in the UK.
Fari, not her real name, said: “It was a really hard time when we came here. My children were not eating at all.
“My country is a hot country so we don’t having any heating system of there.
“The first day we arrived here [in Swansea] was a cold night and we didn’t have money for the heating.
“It was very difficult for me. We were wearing all of our clothes and I was not sleeping and my son was crying all night, saying, ‘are we going to die?’”
Several other free events are being held nationally and in Swansea from November 17 to 25 as part of the festival.
Head of the RIAH at Swansea University Dr Elaine Canning said: “Being Human’s legacy in Swansea is growing every year.
“The opportunity to imaginatively engage the public with a diverse range of subjects has become a key feature of our November calendar, and one that we and our community very much look forward to.”