Members representing a majority of the Senedd defended the Welsh government’s Nation of Sanctuary policy in a heated debate on Wednesday.

Reform’s Welsh leader Dan Thomas told the Welsh Parliament that the scheme, aimed at helping asylum seekers and refugees integrate, “puts illegal arrivals ahead of the queue”.

But politicians from Plaid Cymru, Labour, the Greens and the Welsh Lib Dems rejected the criticism. Plaid Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams accused Reform of being “historically illiterate”.

Reform lost a vote calling for the policy to be scrapped – with 52 votes against, and 38 for.

While the debate was passionate on both sides, it did not see a repeat of the drama witnessed two weeks ago in response to two speeches from Reform’s Joe Martin, the second of which prompted a walk-out by Plaid Cymru MSs.

The debate followed a protest in favour of Nation of Sanctuary on the Senedd steps, attended by some MSs.

Immigration is not something that the Welsh government controls, but in recent years it has had policies to assist asylum seekers and refugees, which it has labelled the “Nation of Sanctuary”.

The scheme dates back to when Labour ran the Welsh government. Between 2019 and 2025 the Welsh government spent £63m, equivalent to 0.05% of its total budget on the policy. Most of the money has been spent on Ukrainian refugees.

Those opposed to the Nation of Sanctuary – Reform and the Conservatives – have argued that the policy sends the wrong message but both those parties have backed support for Ukrainians.

Opening a debate he tabled, Reform’s Thomas said: “The Nation of Sanctuary is effectively an open invitation, welcoming the world to Wales irrespective of their backgrounds, their motives, their skills, or their criminal record.

“This policy puts illegal arrivals ahead of the queue.”

He said Plaid’s claim to be the “party of Wales” was undermined “by the Nation of Sanctuary plan and their willingness to spend public money overseas whilst we have the poorest education and NHS outcomes in the UK”.

Plaid’s Alun Cox challenged Thomas on his previous remarks as leader of Barnet Council, where he said he had offered “five Afghan households the opportunity to resettle in Barnet” and a “warm welcome”.

Thomas said the families “were small in number”.

“Since then, the floodgates have come open,” he said. “They’re coming over in small boats. You’re comparing apples with pears.”

Shav Taj, Labour MS for Caerdydd Fynnon Taf, was one of several Senedd members to receive applause from the public gallery.

Taj accused Reform of having “us believe that actually it is something very different, that the Nation of Sanctuary is somehow responsible for pressures on our NHS, for housing shortages, for insecurity in our communities”.

“It isn’t. That isn’t evidence, that’s scapegoating,” she said, adding: “Scapegoats don’t actually fix our public services.”

She said: “Integration isn’t charity, it’s common sense. A person who learns English or Welsh, finds work and contributes isn’t actually a burden.”

“Can Wales actually afford failed integration? Because exclusion costs us money.”

Joshua Kim, Reform MS for Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, said many in the UK “feel that our kindness is being abused”.

“Of course, I’m not saying every asylum seeker is a liar. However, some are.”

He addressed what he called the “elephant in the room”.

“You might say to me, ‘But Josh, you’re an immigrant’.

“I’m a citizen first, an immigrant second. As a citizen, I want what is best for this country, and putting citizens first is in the best interest of this country.”

Peter Fox, of the Welsh Conservatives, said his party “don’t believe the sanctuary policy is needed” but said the Tories “do not share Reform’s approach”.

“Reform has taken this debate to an extreme, particularly in its stance towards Ukraine, such as their request to have the Ukrainian flag taken down. We will not follow that path.”

Carmelo Colasanto, who was born in Switzerland to Italian parents who came to Wales in 1970, told the Senedd that his parents were “not offered housing or any other benefits, no allowances or funds to assimilate into society, nor language classes – and nor were they expecting it”.

He said the Nation of Sanctuary policy “brings stress onto our economy that is not sustainable as well as placing the people of Wales at risk from people who may wish us harm”.

Responding to the debate for the Welsh government, Plaid Cymru’s Sioned Williams said it was “shameful” of Dan Thomas to call the policy “virtue signalling”.

She said: “After the horrors of World War Two, Britain and its allies helped establish the principle that refugees deserve a fair chance to seek asylum. It was ensured that the statement ‘never again’ was manifested in international law.

“Backs would never be turned again. That legacy must be protected. When we say ‘never again’, we must mean it, we must live it, we must never undermine it.”