At least 397 Syrian refugees resettled in Wales

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Syrian refugees are pictured on their way back to the Syrian city of JerabulusImage source, AFP/Getty Images

The number of Syrian refugees resettled in Wales has reached at least 397, according to figures from the Home Office.

All but one Welsh council had resettled refugees from the UK government's Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme by the end of last December.

Councils had been criticised for the speed that they were housing people.

Oxfam Cymru welcomed the figures, with Conwy and Denbighshire the latest authorities to become involved.

The charity's Matthew Hemsley said: "Wales has a proud history of welcoming those in need and it is important to see that tradition being continued."

The majority of the refugees in Wales were taken in the second half of 2016 - 285.

A total of 5,454 people have been resettled in the UK.

How many refugees have been housed per authority?

Image source, Lindsay Cardwell
Image caption,

Syrian refugees in Aberystwyth thanked the town's residents after their welcome earlier this year

  • Isle of Anglesey: 4

  • Blaenau Gwent: 10

  • Bridgend: 6

  • Caerphilly: 12

  • Cardiff: 26

  • Carmarthenshire: 33

  • Ceredigion: 23

  • Conwy: 3

  • Denbighshire: 5

  • Flintshire: 5

  • Gwynedd: 12

  • Merthyr Tydfil: 8

  • Monmouthshire: 15

  • Neath Port Talbot: 52

  • Newport: 10

  • Pembrokeshire: 0

  • Powys: 44

  • Rhondda Cynon Taf: 34

  • Swansea: 45

  • Torfaen: 15

  • Vale of Glamorgan: 15

  • Wrexham: 20

The figures from the Home Office come after the Welsh Local Government Association said Syrian refugees were expected to have been housed in all council areas across Wales by the end of 2016.

In August 2016, it was reported that only nine of Wales 22 councils had taken part up to the end of June.

The statistics said that one authority - Pembrokeshire - was yet to house refugees from the programme at least by the period covered by the figures, which run from October 2015 to December 2016.

However the council says it plans to resettle a family in the county by the beginning of April.