Powerful arrival in Cardiff

Walking the Coast Path

Today we did the last section of our journey, between Newport and Cardiff. The day started with a bit of a hectic moment about getting water but it arrived in time and no-body got dehydrated. We took the beautiful coastal path and spent the day in song. It was a good day for conversations as the path let us walk side by side in safety. We met lots of cows and enjoyed a few short breaks in the sunshine.

Coming into Cardiff and passing the Lynx hostel was an important moment for many of us. We paused a while to make our presence felt and make sure everyone got flyers.

We stopped outside the Home Office on our way into town, to express our dissent. The street rang with our chants. It's amazing how the power and energy have built up over four days walking together. There were strong and mixed feelings among us.

Sarkawt, one of the protesters, said:

"I've been here once before to hand in my fresh claim, and today I'm here to demand justice for everyone. It's not a specific feeling to be here, but I hope I never have to come here again"

Ahmad another said:

"We thank the government for giving 'leave to remain' to many refugees, to live in safety here, but still there are many left whose lives are in genuine danger, whose applications are refused by the government, denying them the protection they really deserve. "

Even Boris Johnson has called for an amnesty for undocumented migrants. We are looking forward to seeing the government implement this soon."

Everyone feels really proud to have done this distance and arrived here, we've done a great job and we hope the government will listen to our demands to treat us all as humans and give safety for every individual who is looking for protection. We were very happy to arrive at the church where we're staying. Local people had created a wonderful meal for us and we were glad to eat, rest and celebrate together. Spontaneous dancing followed, and later a fantastic jamming session.

On outskirts of Cardiff heading to Newport road singing and dancing ,see you #March4Freedom uk pic.twitter.com/XNp9Mf0XHq

— Dignity4AsylumSeeker (@DignityBristol) June 1, 2014

The longest miles - thanks for the support - Day 3

We set off from Chepstow, via the Castle and the busy High street (people looked a bit confused, but were friendly!)



We walked along lanes, past horses and sheep, we made friends with some animals 

























The Cor Cochion Caerd ydd (Cardiff Reds Choir) joined us at Shirenewton and walked a few miles with us.



We had Lunch and some of us played in the park.

After lunch we had to pick up the pace, because we had done much less than half of the walk, we had around 11 miles to go and if we walked at the same pace we wouldn't arrive until after 10pm. So no more stopping to talk to animals!

It was really hard, many of us were already quite tired, we encouraged each other and we made it to Newport by 8pm!

We stayed in a church which was built by Irish immigrants and has a congregation from around the world. 

People from the Newport Rising group came and hung out with us in the evening and we made plans to join them the next day for Breakfast.

They sent us out from Cardiff for what?

Asylum seekers in this region of the UK are dispersed from Cardiff, being sent from there out to many cities, like Bristol, Plymouth and Newport, without a choice of destination. Today we are walking back to Cardiff and asking them, what are we supposed to do now, must we wait, wait, wait with nothing?