Wales struggling to find housing for Syria refugees

Wales is “experiencing difficulties in securing suitable accommodation” for refugees, a report by a local council has revealed.

Authorities had agreed to take in five families in 2016/17 however so far only two -made up of six individuals – have moved to the district. A further two families decided not to move to Wales.

Conway council said it was “committed to receiving further families” as part of its participation in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (SVPRS) but that demand on housing in the area was so high that “there is a limited availability of suitable properties available”.

The SVPRS is a UK programme that plans to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey over the period from September 2015 to May 2020.

More than 8,000 refugees have arrived in the UK under the Government’s Syrian resettlement scheme, which has had a “truly transformative” impact on people’s lives, the United Nations said in November.

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