AQO 9348/11-16

Mr Sydney Anderson
Democratic Unionist Party
Upper Bann

Tabled Date: 04/01/2016
Answered On Date: 11/01/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Social Development for an update on his Department's work to support refugees.

Answer:

As members will be aware, a group of 51 Syrian refugees arrived in Northern Ireland on 15 December past. I am happy to report that the plans which were put in place worked very effectively. The arrangements at the airport worked smoothly and the refugees were taken through the necessary processes and transferred to the welcome centre without incident. The refugees stayed at a welcome centre in Belfast for three nights and during that time they were helped through some essential initial processes around residency permits and benefit applications and provided with some introductory information on life in Northern Ireland. I am pleased to be able to report that one of the interpreters who assisted us at the welcome centre said that he had worked at several similar locations in other parts of the United Kingdom and the quality of response in Northern Ireland was by some distance the best that he had seen. On the Friday after their arrival all of the refugee families had been successfully settled into their new accommodation.

I had the privilege of meeting with the refugee families while they were at the welcome centre. It was clear that they all were very grateful for the kindness and support that had been shown to them and for the opportunity to make new lives for themselves in a safe place. I would like to offer my thanks to all those who helped to make this operation such a success, especially the British Red Cross who organised all the arrangements at the airport and the welcome centre, the staff of the welcome centre itself and the staff of the Social Security Agency and Northern Ireland Housing Executive who worked with the individual families.