SYRIAN refugees arriving in Aberystwyth before Christmas will be offered Welsh lessons as well as given English lessons as part of a range of measures outlined by Ceredigion council.

Responding to questions from councillors following concerns amid terror attacks in Paris and the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, Ceredigion council outlined the procedures for resettling the 12 refugees set to arrive in town this month.

The council said that the refugees will not put health services under additional stress, would be entitled to seek employment and claim benefits, and would be placed in private housing.

The costs for the first year will all be covered by the UK Government’s Home Office, the council added, with discussions “ongoing” to secure additional funding for “longer term costs”.

The council said that the support it is giving the refugees is “in response to the many people across the county calling on the council to welcome refugees and respond to the crisis in Syria.”

“They are very ordinary people who live very ordinary lives, but have been touched by brutal events that are not their fault,” the council said.

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