Sanctuary for Refugees

During WW1, Welsh communities offered sanctuary to more than 4,000 Belgian refugees fleeing the outbreak of conflict in Flanders Fields.

In the 1930s, Basque children fleeing the Spanish civil war were welcomed from Carmarthenshire to Denbighshire to Newport and Swansea; and Jewish ‘kindertransport’ fleeing the rise of Hitler prior to WW2, found sanctuary in Powys and Conwy.

Many would return to their homes, or start lives anew, after these horrific conflicts ended. Many made huge contributions to Welsh society and communities – and some chose to stay and have become a part of the fabric of Welsh society.

Successive waves of conflict victims – up to the Syria crisis of today – have not only been offered sanctuary, but have contributed to and shaped Welsh society. What can we learn from this aspect of Wales’ peace heritage? Is Wales today a place of peace – and could Wales become the world’s first ‘Nation of Sanctuary‘?

in 1914 Wales welcomed over 4,500 Belgian Refugees fleeing Flanders Fields, as the conflict of WW1 consumed their homes; and whilst most returned, we are uncovering today an indelible contribution they made towards Welsh culture, arts and civil society

Wales' WWI Belgian Refugees

From 1900 to 1923, various Turkish regimes systematically killed over 3.5 million Armenians, Greeks, Nestorians and other Christians.

Armenian Genocide, 1915-23

In September 1936 General Franco, against the elected Republican government, called on German and Italian allies to help establish a dictatorship, bombing his fellow countrymen - a terror immortalised in Picasso's painting 'Guernica', a copy of which hangs in Cardiff's Temple of Peace.

Basque Refugees and the Spanish Civil War

The Kindertransport (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Jewish Kindertransport of WW2

In the decade following World War 2, many millions of people remained displaced throughout Europe, and the newly formed United Nations Association at Cardiff's Temple of Peace played a lead role in shaping Wales contribution to the UN's refugee and resettlement programmes.

Post-WW2 European Reconstruction Volunteers

In 1972, the North Wales community of Tonfanau became whom to hundreds of Ugandan Asian Refugees fleeing the genocide of Idi Amin. In the 1990s, as civil war ravaged Somalia, Wales' longstanding Somalilander community took in many fleeing the troubles.

Ugandan & Somali Refugees, 1970s

Refugees fleeing the Vietnam War found haven in the West Wales community of Barmouth, among other communities

Vietnamese Refugees, 1978

Syrian refugees are citizens and permanent residents of Syrian Arab Republic, who have fled from their country since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 and have sought asylum in other parts of the world. Syrian Refugee Crisis - Facts you need to know (World Vision)

Syrian Refugee Crisis , 2015 - present

Building on Wales’ peace heritage of offering sanctuary to refugees through the last 100 years, Welsh Civil Society were early to set up ‘city of sanctuary’ movements – where local people and communities work together to make their cities a place where new arrivals are welcomed, and can begin to feel safe from war and persecution. Swansea became the UK’s 2nd City of Sanctuary in 2010, followed by Cardiff in 2014.

A Nation of Sanctuary?

Sanctuary Timeline