It was, those involved say, nothing more than a school project created by some girls after a charity’s visit to their school. Others say it is children being used by a Welsh Government-funded charity for political purposes, and then the world’s wealthiest man weighed in too.
The row involving the Welsh Refugee Council and Elon Musk, which you can read about here, all centres around a video made by Welsh school children after a visit from the Welsh Refugee Council two years ago.
In 2023, the Welsh Refugee Council visited an unnamed school as part of a project to teach pupils about what it is like to be a refugee and the Refugee Convention, something which lays out the internationally recognised definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights and assistance a refugee is.
READ MORE: Caerphilly school goes into police lockdown
READ MORE: Body of man killed in alleged hit and run found in churchyard after dog seen wandering alone around village
The chief executive of Welsh Refugee Council Andrea Cleaver explained that after the visit, the school set pupils a project where some created a video. It involves young teens explaining why they thought Wales was a welcoming country for refugees and discussing the work of the charity. They say: “We welcome anyone and everyone” and speak about the support offered by the Welsh Refugee Council including English classes and help applying for benefits or housing. The pupils then share some examples of the Welsh language.
It was not created by the charity and was not, she said, an advert. Having seen it, the charity shared it. The idea, she told BBC Radio Wales, was “to create a video of welcome and the true intention of the video was to show positivity and inclusion”.
There was then “quite a lot of backlash from those who may be considered as holding far-right views” so it was taken down with immediate effect by the school and the charity.
In January 2024, Ken Skates – then a backbench MS and now a cabinet member – asked a question to Mark Drakeford about the video. He asked in the-then First Minister Mark Drakeford in weekly plenary session, “Over Christmas, I was sent a link by a constituent to a news item on an American platform purporting to be a news provider, which claimed that the Welsh Government was using 14-year-old schoolgirls to attract military-age men from countries where there are no rape laws, including Africa and the middle east. Would you agree that this sort of news article is totally unacceptable, damaging to democracy, and, First Minister, do you think there are some other examples over recent weeks of misinformation being promoted online, perhaps emanating from closer to home?” For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
Mr Drakeford replied: “Well, Llywydd, I’m aware of the story to which Ken Skates refers, and it is both utterly untrue and utterly irresponsible to make such claims. Here were a group of young people of their own volition looking to make sure that others who might come to their area would feel welcomed and know that they would be welcomed in that community.
“The result of that misreporting is that those children’s welcome has had to be taken down and that new security arrangements have had to be made at those places where the Welsh Refugee Council operates. Individuals who work for the refugee council were named in those highly irresponsible reports and have had their own lives disrupted as a result.
“The police are involved in investigating what has been said, that willful misrepresentation by people who claim—and it’s a sickening claim—to be interested in the well-being of young people, whereas, in fact, everything that they have done has acted to put young people at greater risk. Anybody who claims to care about the safety of our young people should not be sharing false claims about them.”
We asked South Wales Police if, as the First Minister said a year ago, there had been an investigation and what actions had been carried out. The force refused to answer.
Then, on Saturday, January 11, at 5.52pm an X user who admits not being from the UK, shared the video with the caption. “In Wales, the Welsh Refugee Council is using 12-year-old girls in ads meant to entice migrant men to come to Wales. Most members of this council are from the Middle East, India and Pakistan. I think I’m going to throw up.”.
That was shared by X owner, Elon Musk. It has been viewed more than 5.7m times.
Former Welsh Conservative group leader Andrew RT Davies has also commented about it on X, accusing the Labour Welsh Government of using schoolchildren as “propaganda” to promote an “ideologically-motivated project”. Mr Davies added it was “highly inappropriate for a political organisation to be going into schools and using children in propaganda like this”.
In a statement after publishing on X, he has said: “This video was produced as part of a project involving the Welsh Refugee Council. In it students referred to the Welsh Government’s highly controversial Nation of Sanctuary. The council went into the school as part of a ‘refugee day’. On its website it claimed students made videos to ‘make it loud and clear sanctuary-seekers are welcome in Wales as well as signposting refugees and asylum-seekers to the services we provide’.
“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.”
Since then, the charity said it has received a number of threats. She told BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday that since Mr Musk had promoted the comments on Saturday night they have had to ensure the safety of their staff, volunteers, and those they support. “We have been working closely with the police to report all hate crimes, all messages that show threats or violence so they can build their body of evidence, and ensure action is taken,” she said. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.
Ms Cleaver said they have received messages of violent imagery where their photos have been shared as have their office locations. They have had messages, Ms Cleaver said, making threats like: “We know where you live – we’re coming to get you”. She added: “On Sunday we held a briefing with our trustees. Welsh Government staff were present, and wider staff, to explain to them what was happening and the adjustments we were making to our work and the security systems we have in place to make sure they are protected and can get on and do their job.”
South Wales Police issued a statement to WalesOnline on January 14, 2025, saying: “An allegation of malicious communications was reported at around 11.30pm on Saturday January 11 concerning a post on the social media platform ‘X’.”
The Welsh Government too denounced the rhetoric. “The claims relating to this video are untrue and utterly irresponsible. The video in question was produced by a group of young children to show their school as a welcoming place. The video was withdrawn in 2023 following extensive online abuse received by the school. Anybody who cares about the safety of our young people should not be sharing false claims about them.”