A NEW short documentary explores how the community in an ex-mining town in south Powys has welcomed people fleeing persecution and war.

Refuge follows Aboudi and Ahmad Sattouf, teenage brothers whose family fled the civil war in Syria, finding temporary solace in Lebanon before being settled in Wales.

Now living in Ystradgynlais, the brothers share their experiences of the conflict and their journey to Wales.

Ahmad, 16, said his Welsh home was "super quiet" compared to Syria, where the war made life "not safe for anyone".

He remembered hearing gunfire, rocket attacks and air raids, and said: "When you live in Syria, you don't know when you die."

Aboudi, 17, said of Ystradgynlais: "I like it so much. It's a quiet place, a nice place [with] nice people."

He added: "My heart is here."

Watch a clip from the documentary here:

The 10-minute documentary contrasts the hostility towards some refugees and asylum seekers in Wales with the warm reception the Sattoufs were given in Ystradgynlais.

Locals told Refuge of their happiness to see the family safe and at peace.

“A welcoming society is a civilised society, so we like to think we’re civilised," one woman said.

The film also looks at Ystradgynlais' history of helping refugees, including Polish artist Josef Herman, a Jewish man who in 1938 fled to the UK from Europe as the Nazis invaded much of the continent.

• Refuge is part of the New Voices From Wales series of documentaries by It’s My Shout and BBC Cymru Wales. It was broadcast on BBC Two Wales at 10.30pm on Tuesday, March 30. The film is also now available on BBC iPlayer.