Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet has agreed to take part in a pilot to become an asylum dispersal area in Wales.
The Council will join five other Welsh local authority dispersal areas, including Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Wrexham and Conwy.
A dispersal area is a designated place where the Council has agreed with the Home Office that it will provide support for asylum seekers.
Cabinet members have agreed to support five families in the Caerphilly county borough.
The Council will work with an organisation called Clearsprings Ready Homes, who will be responsible for sourcing suitable private rental properties in areas that meet the needs of each family.
Cllr Philippa Marsden, the council’s leader, said: “The trauma that asylum seekers have experienced, in fleeing fear and persecution in their home county, is unimaginable.
“We’re proud to offer a place of sanctuary to these families, by giving our commitment to become a dispersal area.
“We also recognise the wealth of new skills and experience that refugees and asylum seekers bring to our communities.
“As a Council we already have positive experiences of refugees settling in the county borough, having taken part in the UK Resettlement Scheme for a number of years.”
All costs of accommodating asylum seekers are met by central government and no timescales have been decided yet for families being dispersed to the Caerphilly county borough.
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