A campaign group set up to oppose the housing of more than 200 asylum seekers at a Welsh hotel has apologised to Dafydd Iwan after his cult song Yma o Hyd was sung at a protest. Carmarthenshire-born Mr Iwan said it had been brought to his attention that his song had been sung by protestors on Friday evening outside Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli, which is set to become a home to 207 asylum seekers from early next month as part of plans confirmed by the Home Office. You can read the latest on the ongoing situation here.
He tweeted that “this must stop” and told WalesOnline on Monday: “I just want to make it clear that I do not support the right-wing attitude and racism against asylum seekers. The message behind the song is that we have to fight for our identity but that does not mean that we close our doors to everyone else.” You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
However the group leading local opposition to the plans to house asylum seekers in the Llanelli hotel have responded and clarified that they did not mean any offence by singing Yma o Hyd and that it was not done so in any way as to portray a general anti-asylum seeker message. A large part of the concern over the plans in Llanelli is based on the wellbeing of those asylum seekers, which the group – and Carmarthenshire Council – believe would be better served being homed throughout a wider community rather than in one central location in one localised area.
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“Our sincere apologies go to Dafydd Iwan for any offence we may have caused,” said a spokesman for the Furnace Action Committee, which was set up following a public meeting in the wake of the Home Office’s controversial plans being revealed. “Yma o Hyd is something of a battle anthem at times of political and economic turmoil and the flash mob which gathered in Furnace on Friday evening to sing the song did not mean any offence. The reverse is true and they hold Dafydd Iwan in such high regard they felt he would be sympathetic to their cause.
“More than 100 people gathered at short notice on Friday evening to sing Yma of Hyd as a public display of support for the 100 staff at the Stradey Park Hotel whose jobs are under threat if the Home Office’s plan goes ahead. The singers did not include any left- or right-wing groups and the group was made up of supporters of the Furnace Action Committee’s petition to stop the Home Office plan.
“The petition itself is deliberately meant to be inclusive and includes the wording: 'We fully support Carmarthenshire Council’s preferred model of distributing asylum seekers throughout the wider community, a model which offers so much more for their health and wellbeing.’ The idea to sing Yma o Hyd was an idea which gathered strength very quickly in the village on Friday night as local residents wanted to show solidarity with the staff of the Stradey Park Hotel, workers who now face a future as bleak as the one faced by the miners under Thatcher.
“The residents sang with such spirit, passion, and gusto that their words carried across the evening air to the Stradey Park Hotel. We will be writing to Dafydd Iwan to apologise for any upset but, in the meantime, we would like to reassure him that the singing was done with the best of intentions of supporting the staff at the hotel.”
The action group also asked Mr Iwan to reconsider his request for protesters to stop using Yma o Hyd for the reasons outlined above. Yma o Hyd, which in English means ‘Still Here’, is a 1983 song which was written at a time of political and economic turmoil where the age of Thatcherism saw many coal pits closing in Wales with thousands of men and women losing their jobs as a result. According to the Furnace Action Committee Mr Iwan has told them that he understands their explanation and agrees that the local community should be consulted on the use of Stradey Park Hotel.
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