Wales is 'preparing the ground' for refugees, says Carwyn Jones

Wales is "preparing the ground" so it is ready to receive refugees when they arrive, the first minister has said.

Carwyn Jones hosted a summit on resettling refugees and how to respond to the current crisis.

"Traumatised" people would require counselling, while their health needs and the skills they were bringing would also be considered, he said.

Mr Jones said a "task force" of relevant agencies would deal with the key issues so Wales is prepared.

He said the taskforce would "ensure that when we know the numbers and the needs of the people that come we're ready to receive them".

The summit was held in the Pierhead building, in Cardiff Bay

The Welsh government, local councils, the Red Cross and Welsh Refugee Council were among those who took in the summit.

On Tuesday, First Minister Carwyn Jones told AMs that "in principle" he backed a quota system to decide how many refugees each UK nation should take.

Councils have pledged to "play their part" but asked for help with costs.

David Cameron has said the UK will take up to 20,000 refugees over the next five years.

A Welsh government spokeswoman said the summit was "bringing together key agencies and service providers to develop a co-ordinated Wales-wide response to the crisis".

One Syrian refugee, who met Welsh government ministers at the Senedd on Wednesday, said nobody was leaving the country for money and they only wanted a "safe life".

Mansour Abo-Halawa, 25, owned a small farm and was studying at university when the war put a halt to his education.

He told BBC Radio Wales what people see in the media is a small snapshot of a situation he describes as "so bad".

"Everyone wants to have a safe life. Nobody wants to die", he said, adding: "They don't come for money, they want a nice life."

Mr Abo-Halawa described his home country as "beautiful" and said, given a choice, most refugees would choose to stay if it was possible.

Syrian and Afghan children play in a makeshift playground

Home Secretary Theresa May has announced that the first Syrian refugees to be taken in under the UK government's expanded resettlement scheme will arrive in Britain "in the coming days".

Welsh Refugee Council estimates Wales could give sanctuary to about 1,600 Syrians.

Mr Jones has previously said Wales could accept 500-600 refugees.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood welcomed the summit, saying her party was "ready to make a full contribution to ensuring that Wales takes a fair share of refugees".

"We will also continue to help maintain the cross-party consensus that refugees are welcome here," she added.

Asylum seekers receiving support in Wales since 2004

The number of Syrian asylum seekers being dispersed to Wales has jumped over the last year

Most asylum seekers are dispersed to Wales' main population centres