Yorkshire and Humber councils to take 1,500 refugees

Councils in Yorkshire and the Humber region are to take around 1,500 Syrian refugees as part of the government's resettlement programme.

More than 100 people have already arrived from refugee camps and are living in Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale, Sheffield and Hull.

All 21 councils have agreed to accept refugees as part of UK plans to house 20,000 people from Syria.

The government will meet the cost of housing and supporting the refugees.

Migration Yorkshire is the group tasked by the Home Office to establish which local authorities in the region will take Syrian refugees.

Its head, Dave Brown, said: "Every single local authority has signed up to this. That's quite a staggering agreement.

"I think the people of Yorkshire should be quite proud that we are doing this collectively."

Councils have provided a breakdown of how many refugees they will be accepting after being contacted by the BBC.

West Yorkshire councils

Leeds - 225

Kirklees - between 110 to 130

Wakefield - 100

Bradford - 50

Calderdale - 50

East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire councils

East Riding - 100

Hull - 80

North East Lincolnshire - 10

North Lincolnshire did not supply information.

Barnsley, Rotherham and North Lincolnshire councils did not provide figures.

Migration Yorkshire said details with some authorities were still being finalised but the total number would be around 1,500, with the majority arriving over the next three years.

Mr Brown said each individual authority had decided how many refugees it would take based on factors such as housing, school availability and public support.

He said it was up to councils to decide how best to house them, whether that was in council properties or private rented accommodation.

North Yorkshire councils

York - 60

Harrogate - 50

Scarborough - 34

Hambleton - 28

Selby - 26

Craven - 18

Ryedale - 16

Richmondshire - 16

South Yorkshire councils

Sheffield - 50

Doncaster - fewer than 10

Barnsley and Rotherham did not supply information.

In Leeds, 50 refugees have arrived in the city so far.

The council said the majority of these had be given homes in the private rented sector.

One family from Syria said they were happy to be safe and had received a warm welcome from their children's school.

Imad and his family fled after bombing in Qunaitra which injured one of his three young children.

He said: "In Syria the kids were frightened, they can't even sleep because of all the noise of the bombs.

"If you go to work they (warring factions) stop you and ask where are you going."

The scheme will resettle refugees living in camps in countries bordering Syria

He said eventually he took his family to Lebanon but after four years of living in tents, he concluded "there was no work, no education and no services".

Imad said his family had been treated well in the UK and the children were being given an education.

He said he did not think it would be possible to return to Syria in the short term

"Look at Iraq, it's been over 15 years and look at the situation over there and how destroyed it is," he said.

Mr Brown said the resettlement programme had gone well so far.

"I was at the airport last week when people came in and you can't help wonder what's going through their minds after they've been through so much," he said.

"The overwhelming memory for me is they're just normal people. They're coming through thinking what they want for their family, how they're going to get on with their lives.

"They don't want to talk politics... they just want to be in a safe place to bring up their children and be normal like the rest of us."

Imad, who left Syria because of the warfare, said his family was safe in Leeds