A Welsh Refugee Council (WRC) video showing schoolgirls welcoming refugees to Wales has sparked outrage after resurfacing amid the furious grooming gangs row.
The video shows two schoolgirls highlighting the help that asylum seekers can expect from the WRC and other agencies in a video produced by their school in South Wales.
Though the video was taken down by the school just days after it was posted last year, copies of it have now caught the attention of senior politicians – as well as tech tycoon Elon Musk.
Musk claimed that the footage was being used to “entice migrant men to come to Wales”.
The video shows schoolgirls highlighting the help that asylum seekers can expect from the WRC
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Elon Musk claimed that the footage was being used to ‘entice migrant men to come to Wales’
GETTY
In the video, one of the girls says: “Wales is seen as a nation of sanctuary. We welcome anyone and everyone. We recognise your skills and talents.”
While the other adds: “The Welsh Refugee Council offers a lot of support.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said in response to the reemergence of the video: “It was deeply irresponsible for the Welsh Refugee Council to share a video featuring only young girls in the first place, especially in light of the long-standing grooming gangs scandal.
“It is right that they took it down, but they should never have shared it in the first place.”
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Chris Philp has called the video ‘deeply irresponsible’
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Former Welsh Conservatives leader Andrew RT Davies accused Welsh Labour ministers of using schoolchildren as “propaganda” to promote an “ideologically motivated project”.
He added that it was “highly inappropriate for a political organisation to be going into schools and using children in propaganda like this”.
But on Monday, the WRC said it was “concerned” about the spreading of “misinformation by individuals in positions of influence”, which it said could “escalate threats and unwarranted attention toward our organisation, staff and others”.
The council has said it is in the process of referring Davies’ comments to the Senedd’s Standards Commissioner.
Andrew RT Davies’s remarks have been taken to the Senedd’s Standards Commissioner by the WRC
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But Davies has hit back, saying: “Britain has a track record helping those in need, but schoolchildren should not be used in videos like this. I make no apologies for calling it out.”
The WRC’s chief executive Andrea Cleaver said: “In 2023, a video from a school, welcoming refugees was released. It was never intended as an advert to encourage migration and was uploaded by the school to social media to show the positivity of pupils.
“The Welsh Refugee Council would like to clarify that we did not create or commission the school video being circulated. While we were not involved in its production, we shared it as a positive example of young people championing messages of compassion and inclusion.
“In 2023, the video was subsequently taken down by the school, as were our social media messages which had shared it. What is being circulated since, are videos that people have taken of that video.”
