Statistics
Asylum Seekers
In Cardiff at the end of June 2009 there were 980 asylum seekers receiving UKBA support (Home Office, 2009). It is important to note that data is not collected anywhere in the UK on the location of asylum seekers that are not accommodated or supported by the Home Office.
The Home Office estimates that there are around 2300 asylum seekers dispersed in Wales. Cardiff receives more asylum seekers than any other part of Wales, around 49% of the total number sent to Wales by the UKBA (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).
ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children) estimates that in 2008 there were around 150 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) living in Wales. The exact number is unknown as it goes unrecorded by the Home Office (Kelly, 2009).
In April 2006 the most common nationalities of asylum seekers were, in this order, Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Congo, Afghanistan, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Algeria (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).
Refugees
It is very difficult to calculate the number of refugees in any given city. This is because the Home Office only keeps statistics on the number of asylum seekers that are being accommodated and/or supported. As a result estimates on the number of refugees can only be made using research or client data collected by relevant agencies.
However in 2008 it was estimated that around 10,000 refugees were living in Wales (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008). Cardiff County Council estimated the number of refugees living in Cardiff to be somewhere around 6000 in 2005 (Marquis, 2007).
The number of refugees living in Wales has risen significantly since the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act. In 1997 it was estimated that only around 3565 refugees were living in Wales, compared to the 10,000 estimated in 2008 (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).
Minority ethnic population
The number of Welsh Residents born outside the UK, and their country/region of origin are as follows:
European Union: 53,400
Africa: 21,800
Bangladesh: 5,300
India: 9,000
(Welsh Assembly Government, 2008b).
In 2001 it was estimated that only 2.1% of the population in Wales was ‘non-white', whereas it was estimated that 8.4% of the population in Cardiff was ‘non-white'. Recent surveys also estimate that around 10% of the population in Cardiff were born outside of the UK (Threadgold, 2008). These figures suggest that Cardiff is more ethnically diverse than Wales as a national unit.
Employment
As elsewhere in the UK asylum seekers are usually not allowed to work whilst they are waiting for a decision from the Home Office on their application. The Home Office's reasoning for this is that entering a country for economic reasons and for asylum are different and should be kept distinct. Whilst they are not allowed to work asylum seekers may be eligible for UKBA asylum support, which currently stands at £35.13 to cover living costs for a single adult over the age of 18 (www.homeoffice.gov.uk).
The number of employed residents in Wales born outside of the UK stood at 67,000 in 2007. However, for the most part these workers are economic migrants coming from other parts of Europe rather than refugees (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008b).
Research by the Welsh Refugee Council estimates that the unemployment rate among refugees in Wales stands at around 64% whereas only 22% of those who took part in their survey were unemployed in their countries of origin (Marquis, 2007). Furthermore the national unemployment rate for Wales in December 2008 was 5.1% (http://wales.gov.uk). It is clear that refugees are extremely disadvantaged in regards to finding employment in Wales. 41% of refugees surveyed wanted to find any job, 39% wanted to find a job that matched their skills and 36% wanted further training (Marquis, 2007).
Education
60% of refugees in Wales have a further or higher education qualification yet as previously mentioned 64% are still unemployed (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).
A Welsh Refugee Council audit of refugee skills and qualifications did however suggest that a large number of refugees had attended ESOL classes since arriving in the country, 61% (Marquis, 2007).
Housing
Asylum seekers who live in UKBA supported accommodation have no choice as to where they live. The 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act implemented a policy of dispersal and as a consequence there are, at any one time, approximately 2500 asylum seekers in supported accommodation across the four cluster areas in Wales: Cardiff, Newport, Wrexham and Swansea (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).
As previously mentioned, it is extremely difficult to obtain data on refugees so in this instance research regarding ethnic minorities and housing in order to gain some possible insight into housing conditions for refugees in Wales and Cardiff. The 2001 census stated that people from the white ethnic group were much more likely to own than rent, whereas renting is much more common among the black population. It also states that Black or Bangladeshi households were much more likely to be overcrowded. 22 % of black headed households and 27% of Bangladeshi headed households were overcrowded in 2001, whilst the percentage for households headed by someone of white origin stood at only 4%. Furthermore ethnic minorities are more likely to live in communal establishments, such as hostels and lodging houses, than white people. Only 1.5% of people from a white ethnic background lived in such accommodation whilst 9% of the ‘other ethnic' group did (Welsh Assembly Government, 2001). Considering refugees tend to be even more disadvantaged it is likely that the number of refugees living in overcrowded conditions or communal establishments is higher.
Crime
Statistics show that the crime rate in Wales is lower than the UK as a whole. In 2008/9 the total recorded crime rate in Wales stood at 79 offences per 1000 population, whereas for the UK it was 86 offences per 1000 population. However it does seem that the crime rate is higher in South Wales in comparison to Wales as a whole (Home Office 2009b).
Unfortunately racism remains a common experience for refugees and asylum seekers in Wales. Since dispersal there have been cases of racially motivated attacks against property and people (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008). Furthermore in 2004 Kalan Kawa Karim, an Iraqi Kurd refugee, was killed in a racist attack. (http://www.independent.co.uk)
Many racist incidents go unreported (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008) which suggests that there is a lack of confidence in the police in dealing with these issues. Furthermore police discrimination against young Somali men in Cardiff remains a problem (Threadgold 2008).
Religious Diversity
In 2004 white Christians formed 71% (2,069,800 people) of the population. 54% (3,800 people) of people from black ethnic groups reported themselves to be Christian, as did 51% (8,900) of those coming from a mixed ethnic background. Pakistani Muslims were the largest of the non-Christian faith groups with 7,200, followed by Bangladeshi Muslims (5,000), Indian Hindus (4,500) and White Buddhists (3,200). In total about 1 in 5 people reported that they had no religion (Welsh Assembly Government, 2004).
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Last Updated: 06/10/09
