Sanctuary seekers arriving in Wales will have little awareness of our local processes. Arrivals will often lack a support network and may have support needs. Providing integration support as quickly as possible helps individuals to orientate to a new culture. This also preserves existing skills and well-being and prevent harmful outcomes. People feel control over their lives and skills are not wasted.

Our ambition is to ensure everyone arriving in Wales can start to access support from day one of arrival. This means that we try to reduce the time where individuals are unable to access services or opportunities. This helps people to contribute effectively. Racism in our communities will also hinder integration. Sanctuary seekers could be denied opportunities or be fearful of accessing available support.

Sanctuary seekers have skills, experiences and expertise which is valuable to our society. We have a long history of drawing upon these skills to support the Welsh NHS, businesses and many other Welsh organisations. These skills are often rare in the Welsh labour market and enable new opportunities and international trade. We seek opportunities to harness these valuable contributions as early as possible. We continue to advocate for all sanctuary seekers to be granted the right to work. This includes asylum seekers who have waited 6 months for a decision on their case.

We aim to ensure sanctuary seekers are given the support and information they need to contribute to their new communities. This benefits everyone in Wales.

The UK Government is responsible for the immigration and asylum system. This includes decisions about some of the rights to access services. Sanctuary seekers must comply with these rules. The Welsh Government seeks to support sanctuary seekers’ without undermining UK Government rules. We see sanctuary seekers' needs and skills first, and the barriers created by their immigration status second. This is the compassionate approach and recognises our common humanity.

Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that belong to everyone. Delivering on our equality and human rights duties enables people to live their lives based on shared values . These values are dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independent living. We have a legal duty to respect, protect and fulfil these rights, without discrimination. We commit to taking a human rights based approach by putting people at the centre of all we do.

Sanctuary seeking children and young people can be particularly vulnerable. We make special consideration to ensure the rights of these young people are respected in any action we take. We promote and safeguard children’s rights through our work. Sanctuary seekers are disproportionately likely to have experienced trauma. They are also more likely to have had Adverse Childhood Experiences. We consider these experiences in our work.

The Social Services and Well-Being Act 2014 enshrines an overarching well-being duty. Welsh Ministers, local authorities, and health boards must promote the well-being of people who need care and support. ‘Well-being’ is defined as people’s:

• physical and mental health
• emotional well-being
• protection from abuse and neglect
• their education, training and recreation
• domestic, family and personal relationships
• contribution made to society
• securing rights and entitlements
• social and economic well-being; and
• suitability of living arrangements.

It also relates to children's' physical, intellectual, emotional, social and behavioural development. In relation to adults, it includes supporting control over day-to-day life and participation in work. Under the Act, public bodies have duties to assess and plan for the care and support needs of those in their area.

The Government of Wales Act 2006 requires Welsh Ministers to have due regard to equality of opportunity. The Public Sector Equality Duty and Human Rights Act 1998 also influence the way we take action. We fulfil our international obligations. This includes the seven United Nations Conventions signed and ratified by the UK.

We consider individual circumstances sanctuary seekers face, rather than one-size-fits-all approaches. We consider whether any interventions are reasonable, proportionate and necessary. Impact Assessments will be completed as part of policy development.

Welsh public bodies have a duty to foster good relations between different groups. Fostering good relations provides social connections between sanctuary seekers and host communities. This opens up opportunities for integration and active participation in Welsh community life. This also ensures misinformation which stokes fears about immigration is less effective.

We need to ensure our actions provide opportunities for sanctuary seekers and host communities to get along together. The Nation of Sanctuary needs to be understood as providing benefits to the whole community. Community cohesion benefits everyone. We take an active enabling role to support two-way cultural exchange and learning.

Welsh communities have long provided a welcome for sanctuary seekers needing a new home. This includes the Homes for Ukraine and Community Sponsorship programmes. The 'Refugees Welcome' and City of Sanctuary movement are other examples. Historically Welsh communities have benefitted from the contributions of many sanctuary seekers. They have come from Syria, Uganda, Somaliland, Belgium and around the world. Sanctuary seekers who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to integrate quickly and contribute fully. We will continue to encourage places and institutions to become places ‘of Sanctuary’.

We have seen some unacceptable responses to accommodation proposals for sanctuary seekers. We also know sanctuary seekers experience discrimination and hate crime. We counter this discrimination and hate where we find it. Wales has no place for hate.

Sanctuary seekers are more vulnerable to harmful outcomes due to their previous experiences. This includes a lack of financial resilience or social support networks in Wales. This also creates difficulty in independently navigating UK processes. Harmful outcomes include homelessness, poor accommodation or destitution. Harm also includes worsening health conditions, abuse or other forms of exploitation.

We provide advice and accessible services to ensure sanctuary seekers can understand the UK. These interventions will help to prevent harmful outcomes occurring. We also work closely with the UK Government to advise them about the likely impact of their immigration and asylum systems.

Sanctuary seekers coming to Wales are likely to have been displaced by war or persecution. Sanctuary seekers often experience further trauma on perilous journeys or in refugee camps. Arrivals to Wales are highly vulnerable to other harmful outcomes which can create further trauma.

We minimise further trauma and risks of re-traumatisation. We promote a post-trauma recovery phase as quickly as possible. For this to occur, individuals need control in their own lives, privacy, dignity and to feel safe. The Trauma-Informed Wales Framework promotes compassionate, empathetic and supportive interventions. Without taking this approach, more harmful outcomes are likely to occur,. This creates greater costs to the Health and Social Care system and with a loss of talent to our economy.

This approach requires us to oppose the forced room sharing of unrelated adults. We also advocate for better protections. This includes for LGBTQ+ individuals and those affected by gender-based violence. We will seek to minimise non-essential data sharing with immigration enforcement. We undertake pro-active work to prevent exploitation or destitution. We will ensure all sanctuary seekers continue to be able to access NHS treatment for free, on the same basis as UK nationals. We will ensure healthcare services in Wales are inclusive. We will work with local authorities to minimise harmful outcomes experienced by those with No Recourse to Public Funds.

Considering how to safeguard people from all forms of harm is at the heart of everything we do to support sanctuary seekers.

The most effective support is often to help sanctuary seekers to be able to help themselves. Our proposals should consider how to support individuals to build their own agency.

Our approach involves those directly affected by our plans at every stage of development. This should ensure we understand the likely needs, desires and impacts of proposals on sanctuary seekers. Listening to the voices of people with lived experiences will create effective interventions. Sanctuary seekers can come from any part of the world. Their cultural norms and priorities are likely to differ. Involving sanctuary seekers will help us to identify any differences, and respect and preserve culture. We will communicate to address any misunderstandings which occur.

Those arriving will know what their new community’s expectations and laws are. It will help public services to be more effective and provide opportunities for closer engagement.

The approach also requires us to consider the needs of host communities. Local communities need to be informed and consulted about proposals. This can only happen where safe to do so. This will support effective community cohesion and integration.

Much of the support required by sanctuary seekers will be provided by local government, local health boards, or the Third Sector. Welsh Government will seek to support effective integration through partnerships. The private sector will have a key role in employing new arrivals to support the Welsh economy. Our ‘Team Wales’ concept reflects a whole-of-society approach. The Nation of Sanctuary is a shared vision for organisations and communities. Solutions are designed together to provide the most effective means of integration. ‘Team Wales’ has demonstrated tangible benefits.

We work with Welsh partners and the UK Government to promote a ‘Place Based’ Approach to resettlement and dispersal. This means that we consider the collective pressures and opportunities in each area. These pressures can be created by migration schemes, local homelessness, and other pressures. We will work with partners to seek equitable support arrangements in all areas of Wales. Historically, migration schemes have been operated individually by the UK Government. We are working towards a more holistic approach in Wales. Wales will continue to play a proportionate role in all resettlement and dispersal schemes. Local pressures and capacity need to be fully considered to achieve this.

We will jointly convene and coordinate the Nation of Sanctuary Governance Structure for Wales. We coordinate this with the Welsh Local Government Association/Wales Strategic Migration Partnership. This will help to ensure effective political and strategic oversight of our response to migration.

We work with Welsh local government to support the UK Government’s delivery of an effective Wales Asylum Plan.

Sanctuary seekers need to engage in all aspects of Welsh life upon arrival in Wales. Barriers may occur to make services inaccessible. Looking at each barrier in isolation can prevent issues being resolved effectively. The most efficient solution is usually to ensure existing services can be made more inclusive of sanctuary seekers. This is often better than creating a bespoke service exclusively for sanctuary seekers. However, in some circumstances dedicated services may be required. Each proposal should be examined carefully to see if it can integrate with the other services which sanctuary seekers may need to access.

We also assess whether our there are intersectional impacts being experienced. This occurs where a combination of characteristics can lead to profound disadvantage. A more nuanced or different approach may be required to avoid this. Intersectional impacts can be harder to overcome if these are not considered in the design of the proposed solution.

Sanctuary seekers often arrive in Wales following a high-profile war or horrendous atrocity. In the immediate aftermath of these incidents, short-term support is often mobilised. Our approach is to plan for the long-term support needs which sanctuary seekers will have. It is not easy to learn English or Welsh in a single year. The trauma people have suffered may need life-long treatment. Being separated from family members can have a significant negative effect on mental health. As a consequence, our work tries to avoid short-term, incident-specific responses. We recognise long-term support services need to be established for all sanctuary seekers.

Displacement and limited sanctuary schemes mean families often end up forcibly separated. We recognise outcomes will be much better if we can support family reunification. Family Reunion improves mental health and well-being. It also provides a support network and financial resilience, amongst other benefits. It also enables individuals to feel more secure and to integrate with their new community.

Children and young people seeking sanctuary are likely to be particularly vulnerable. Appropriate and good quality support helps young people to reach their full potential. We aim to provide this early and continuously. Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are looked after by Local Authorities. This is the same as with any other children with care and support needs.

Nation of Sanctuary work involves ensuring sanctuary seekers have equality of opportunity, as far as this is possible. The UK Government creates rules about what some sanctuary seekers can access.  We seek to ensure that different cohorts of sanctuary seekers have fair opportunities. We avoid ‘two-tier’ approaches where possible. We avoid the unhelpful and unjust perception of ‘deserving’ or ‘undeserving’ sanctuary seekers.

We aim to ensure all sanctuary seekers can access all mainstream public services. Certain schemes cannot be accessed as this would create unreasonable risks. Sometimes barriers are because separate bespoke provision exists. Fair support for those with No Recourse to Public Funds is particularly difficult to achieve in some areas due to the UK Immigration Rules. Taking a person-centred human rights approach helps us to consider what support can be offered.

Equality of opportunities also includes those with intersecting characteristics.  For example, sanctuary seekers may be further disadvantaged because of their:

• race
• faith or belief
• disability
• sexual orientation
• sex or gender identity
• age
• pregnancy and maternity, or
• marriage or civil partnership.

We ensure the support we give to sanctuary seekers is comparable with the support we give to other vulnerable people. This includes those who are homeless and residing in temporary accommodation. We try to ensure there is equity in the support we can provide to ensure there is fairness in our approach.

Wales can make a positive contribution to addressing the global refugee crisis. This work implements the Well-being of Future Generations goal of a globally responsible Wales. Our Nation of Sanctuary vision is about Wales playing a full part in the UK’s global responsibilities. Nation of Sanctuary is not about developing a parallel immigration policy. We seek to help UK Government to provide sanctuary seeker support within Wales.  We make efforts to communicate our practice to the other three nations of the UK and internationally. Wales makes up approximately 5% of the UK population and we expect to support roughly 5% of the UK’s sanctuary seeker population, as a result.

We take a proactive approach to develop innovative and compassionate support. Our Homes for Ukraine Super Sponsor route is an example of how we have been able to break new ground. This achieved warm and effective integration at scale.

We are committed to fostering improvements and innovative approaches with the UK Government. We aim for better alignment between UK Government schemes and Welsh community integration. We implement these recommendations when delivering any Welsh Government welcome accommodation.