CITIZENS Lay the Ground to Save Sanctuary in Northern Ireland

Today a team of leaders from local faith, refugee and citizen organisations travelled to Stormont to present a number of recommendations for restoring public support for sanctuary to senior civil servants at the Northern Ireland Assembly. The meeting paves the way for a future negotiation with Junior Ministers at the Assembly to discuss implementation of the Independent Asylum Commission’s recommendations.

The team consisted of representatives of the Law Centre (Northern Ireland), Refugee Action Group, Embrace (an interchurch initiative to support migrant communities), staff from CITIZENS for Sanctuary and two people who have first-hand experience of the asylum system in Northern Ireland. They were received at Stormont, the historic home of the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly, by officials who advise the Ministers with responsibility for community cohesion.

The team had a clear agenda – to raise a series of recommendations from the Independent Asylum Commission that could be discussed at a meeting with Ministers expected in the New Year. Justin, who fled persecution in Ivory Coast, shared his testimony about his experience of living in Belfast and the isolation he has felt in a city with few minority ethnic communities and the highest levels of hate crime in the UK. This was followed by a presentation on the Independent Asylum Commission’s Public Attitudes Research Project, before Boobakar, who escaped to Belfast from Guinea Conakry, explained to the spellbound civil servants about how his experiences in the past year had made him feel unwelcome.

Margaret McNulty, Information Officer at Embrace, then offered her perspective as a local resident and churchgoer who had spent many years working with migrant communities in Northern Ireland. Liz Griffith of the Law Centre (Northern Ireland) then pointed out the importance of access to ESOL classes and higher education for people seeking sanctuary.

The team’s presentation ended with a series of eight proposed recommendations to set before the Minister, ranging from using the language of ‘sanctuary’ rather than ‘asylum’ when communicating with the public, to setting up Sanctuary Welcome Teams to ensure that people like Justin and Boobakar are welcomed into the community.

The meeting ended with a commitment from the civil servants to prepare for a meeting with Junior Minister Gerry Kelly scheduled for the New Year and to explore each of the recommendations in advance of that meeting.

After the meeting Justin said:
“I was happy that I had the opportunity to tell my story and negotiate directly with important people today. It was the first time I had been to Stormont and the first time I had met with people who have the power to change how people seeking sanctuary are treated in Northern Ireland.”

Margaret McNulty said:
“I felt that the meeting today could not have gone better – but the challenge is that we need to convince the Ministers as well as the civil servants.”

Carina Crawford-Rolt, Projects Organiser with CITIZENS for Sanctuary, said:
“This was the first action for our team in Northern Ireland – and the power of our leaders’ testimonies really got a reaction from the civil servants! We are looking forward to our negotiation with the Minister – and I am excited because this could bring about real change.”

CITIZENS convince UK Border Agency to turn 'cattleshed' into an £800,000 Welcome Centre

In front of a packed Assembly of 300 people in Lambeth Town Hall yesterday, the UK Border Agency's Regional Director, Tony Smith, thanked South London CITIZENS for making possible an £800,000 redevelopment of the 'cattleshed' at the Agency's Croydon HQ, into a Welcome Centre.

Mr Smith made the decision to proceed with the plans following pressure applied by South London Citizens at their Assembly in 2008. Since that time Mr Smith and his team have worked with a team of leaders from South London Citizens as part of the CITIZENS for Sanctuary campaign. The new Welcome Centre will transform the experience of the thousands of people seeking sanctuary who use Lunar House every year. Instead of queueing outdoors the plans provide for a climate-controlled, fully-enclosed reception area, with seats for those unable to stand, and an 'customer experience' more akin to a government building than a cattleshed. Over 80 builders are working on the project to ensure that it is complete by Christmas, when South London Citizens will celebrate the opening by singing carols.

South London CITIZENS' enquiry into Lunar House had previously led to major changes at Lunar House - the main Border Agency building where people fleeing persecution can claim sanctuary. Over the years these changes have included access to fresh drinking water in the Asylum Screening Unit, the provision of baby-changing facilities, and the removal of the 'pig pen' queueing arrangements. Volunteers from South London Citizens have served over 900 cups of tea and coffee to often traumatised and vulnerable people in the Asylum Screening Unit in the past six months.

Barbara Nalumu, a leader from South London Citizens and a key figure in the CITIZENS for Sanctuary campaign, said:

"The cattleshed was where I had to wait, in the cold and the rain, when I came to the UK from Uganda 20 years ago. I remember thinking: “this is not much of a welcome to Britain.” When I visited it again earlier this year it hadn’t changed much. On Monday a delegation of South London Citizens visited Lunar House - and we were delighted to see that work on the new Welcome Centre was already under way."

Tony Smith, Regional Director of the UK Border Agency for London and the South East, said:

"I am really grateful to South London Citizens and the Friends of Lunar House for giving me the momentum to be able to proceed with the refurbishment. Without your support this would not have happened. I look forward to working with you in South London, and negotiating with you on the recommendations of the Independent Asylum Commission."

Cathy Giraud, a leader from South London Citizens and one of the Friends of Lunar House, said:

"The changes at Lunar House look amazing and are a testament to the importance of the relationship between the Border Agency and South London Citizens."

BBC Radio 4 reports Sanctuary Pledge success at Party Conferences

Our work at the Party Conferences to promote the Sanctuary Pledge has been picked up by a number of journalists.

There is a comprehensive story by the religious news agency Ekklesia. Also on the Community Newswire.

But the pick of the bunch is a great six minute piece on BBC Radio 4's main religious programme, Sunday. Scroll through to 9 minutes and 54 seconds in and you'll find it. It should be available until next Sunday - when we have a slot between 08:00 and 09:00 on Premier Christian Radio.

In case you are reading this and the report has been taken off BBC iPlayer, after a three week tour of the party conferences in Bournemouth, Brighton and Manchester, meetings with senior politicians and advisers in the three main parties, and the engagement of over 80 faith, citizen and refugee leaders, we have tasted success.

Leaders of London Citizens, the Citizen Organising Foundation, the major church denominations and senior representatives of all three main parties (Sarah Teather MP and Steve Webb MP- Lib Dem, Jon Cruddas MP - Labour, and Elizabeth Berridge - Conservative Christian Fellowship) signed a covenant to work together to save sanctuary at the 2010 General Election. This is a major achievement and represents a significant step forward in CITIZENS for Sanctuary's efforts to stake out a 'centreground for sanctuary'.

Each of the political parties have agreed to meet us again soon to discuss the exact wording of the Sanctuary Pledge.

In the meantime, we are preparing to train citizens across the UK who would like to meet with their Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in the run-up to next year's election and ask them to sign the Sanctuary Pledge. If you are interested and would like further information then please send us your name and phone number to sanctuary@cof.org.uk.

Lib Dems Pledge to Work with CITIZENS to Save Sanctuary at the 2010 Election

By Sam Barritt

The Liberal Democrats this week joined the Sanctuary Pledge campaign to secure justice for people fleeing persecution, in partnership with organisers CITIZENS for Sanctuary, faith leaders, community institutions and refugee groups.

Senior Liberal Democrats Sir Alan Beith MP, Sarah Teather MP (Shadow Housing Minister), and Professor Steve Webb MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), as well as policy makers and advisers from the party attended the meeting, which was supported by the Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Churches, the Salvation Army and the Vincentian Millennium Partnership.



They heard detailed briefings on the findings of polling and focus group research into public attitudes towards sanctuary, as well as moving personal testimony by Mr Jeff Sango of the CITIZENS for Sanctuary Zimbabwe Action Team and the Zimbabwean political party, Movement for Democratic Change, himself seeking sanctuary in the UK.



A diverse alliance of faith leaders, representing approximately 8 million potential voters, impressed upon the politicians the strength of the support for the Sanctuary campaign. The leaders included the Right Reverend Paul Butler, Bishop of Southampton; the Reverend David Gamble, President of the Methodist Conference; the Reverend Graham Sparkes, Head of Faith and Unity for the Baptist Union of Great Britain; the Reverend Dr Rosemary Kidd, Chair of the Churches Refugee Network and Faith and Unity Coordinator, Baptist Union of Great Britain; the Reverend Dr. Andrew Davey, Community and Urban Affairs, Church of England.

Jonathan Cox, Lead Organiser of CITIZENS for Sanctuary, explained that as well as securing broad political support for implementing the findings of the Independent Asylum Commission, the national policy objective of the Sanctuary Pledge is to end the detention of children and families. This was a key recommendation of the IAC and is backed by the leading human rights and children's charities working in the field. Currently it is estimated that some 2,000 children are detained each year for immigration purposes. They have committed no crime - they are simply the children of people who have sought sanctuary and who can be detained indefinitely by the UK Border Agency, without judicial oversight, for administrative purposes.



In an unusual move for a party conference meeting, the participants split into group discussions to consider issues relating to securing justice for people seeking sanctuary, and methods of rebuilding public support for sanctuary. There was widespread agreement that these face to face meetings provided an original and successful way to engage with personal stories, and understand the human face of sanctuary.



Sarah Teather MP, responding to the requests by Mr Sango for the Liberal Democrats to work with the Sanctuary campaign at the next election, to arrange for a Sanctuary delegation to meet with her Liberal Democrat Home Affairs colleagues, and to tell the meeting her personal response to the pledge, was enthusiastically positive.

The MPs and faith leaders present took the opportunity to sign the an agreement to work together to save sanctuary in the forthcoming general election campaign. The coalition behind the Sanctuary campaign will now take the Pledge to the Labour and Conservative party conferences, before aiming to shape the general election by promoting the Saving Sanctuary Pledge to Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) and relevant Ministers and Shadow Ministers.


The Liberal Democrats have helped provided an encouraging start to the Sanctuary Pledge campaign.

Victory for Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary as UK Border Agency pledges ‘local reporting centres for local people'

An alliance of faith, refugee and citizen groups has today won an important victory in their campaign to stop vulnerable people seeking sanctuary in the Tees Valley being forced to walk from Middlesbrough to Stockton to comply with UK Border Agency reporting requirements.

Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary met with Jeremy Oppenheim, North East Regional Director for the UK Border Agency, at the Trinity Centre in North Ormesby, Middlesbrough.

Mr Oppenheim had agreed to come to the local area to discuss the issue following a symbolic ‘walk of justice’ by 50 local citizens from North Ormesby to Stockton on 9th July which was organised by Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary.

At the meeting a team of 16 trained citizen negotiators presented Mr Oppenheim with a copy of a report, ‘The Long Walk to Stockton’, which revealed the human impact of the UK Border Agency’s reporting requirements, and called for ‘local reporting centres for local people’. ‘The Long Walk to Stockton' report found that 77% of people who report at Stockton Police Station actually live in Middlesbrough and called on Mr Oppenheim to put an end to people having to walk up to 12 miles in order to comply with UK Border Agency reporting restrictions.

During the meeting Mr Oppenheim was brought face-to-face with a number of people seeking sanctuary who make the regular walk from Middlesbrough to Stockton and whose stories feature in ‘The Long Walk to Stockton’. Through these testimonies he heard of the impact of the regular walk to Stockton on people’s health, welfare and finances.

After the presentation of the report and the testimonies, Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary then put a series of requests to Mr Oppenheim. They first asked him to agree that no one should be required to travel more than 3 miles to report without being provided with travel expenses. In a major development, Mr Oppenheim responded by agreeing to bring the Tees Valley into line with the rest of the UK, so that travel tickets will be provided to people receiving asylum support who have to travel more than 3 miles each way. This system will be up and running by 14th September.

In response to concerns about the human consequences raised in the ‘The Long Walk to Stockton’, Mr Oppenheim agreed to minimise the impact of the UK Border Agency’s reporting requirements on people’s health, welfare and family life.

When asked to provide ‘local reporting centres for local people’, so that people can report at North Ormesby and Middlesbrough police stations as well as at Stockton, Mr Oppenheim agreed that in the future people should report to the UK Border Agency as locally as possible. He pledged to end the practice of people having to walk from Middlesbrough to Stockton. In order to achieve this he promised to secure alternative venues for people to report in Middlesbrough, in addition to Stockton Police Station, and hoped to have these in place by 14th September 2009.

Mr Oppenheim also agreed that he and his staff would continue to work with Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary to resolve this and other issues, with a first meeting to review progress scheduled for mid-October, a month after the new reporting arrangements are due to begin.

Barbara Hungin, a Leader from Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary, said:
"We are delighted that Mr Oppenheim came to Middlesbrough today. He read our report, listened to the stories of people who regularly walk to Stockton to report, and responded positively to the issues we raised. We are doubly delighted that he has promised to introduce ‘local reporting centres for local people.’

"This is a victory for common sense and decency - and for the power of ordinary citizens to work together for change. We look forward to the commencement of the new reporting arrangements in September. Tees Valley CITIZENS for Sanctuary is already preparing to monitor the impact so that we can be sure that no-one has to undergo the ‘long walk to Stockton’ in the future.”

UK Border Agency Regional Director Jeremy Oppenheim said:
"We are making every effort to ensure that asylum seekers can report to the nearest UK Border Agency building or alternative office.

"Reporting is an essential part of our immigration system and offers an alternative to detention. Foreign nationals who are genuinely in need of our protection deserve a quick decision so that they can learn English, get a job and look forward to a safe, positive future. Equally, those who don't need sanctuary in the UK are expected to leave the country as soon as possible.

"We are looking into alternative reporting centres in the Middlesbrough area and, from 14 September, will offer to buy bus tickets for people entitled to our support.”

Cardiff gets the ball rolling...

The Wales Regional Campaign Action Team, who are already successfully exchanging over £1000 per week of Sectoin Four supermarket vouchers, have decided to take on the challenge of setting up an Internship Scheme for local people seeking sanctuary.

Deskilling, depression and boredom has become a major problem amongst people seeking sanctuary in Cardiff. Many people have shared stories about missing their life in the work place, and have been left feeling that their talents and skills are being wasted. They broke this large problem down into the tangible issue of people being deskilled because they are unable to work.

The RCAT gathered to discuss this issue and agreed that building on the Zimbabwean pilot internship scheme in London would be one innovative citizen subversion to the problem of people not being able to work. The group are going to set up a head quarters, linked to Oxfam Wales, to run an internship for local people seeking sanctuary to get skills and experience in local businesses, charities and service providers. The interns need to be provided with a lunch and travel expenses but otherwise they will volunteer their time and expertise. However, despite being voluntary, the internships will try to provide meaningful tasks and hopefully references in the long term for people seeking sanctuary.

It's an exciting new project that can also help with the local integration and it will be interesting to see how the team and the interns develop over the coming months.

Poems from the Cardiff RCAT

I still remember
That very moment in my life
When I decided the unknown
Over the little known
Booking a place in a plane
Leaving behind the family
And close ones at home; and
Deciding to be part of the unknown
With optimistic view of the day
Having some hope
Which are yet to be dashed.
Leaving the home airport was frustrating
As it involved a lot of risk
I remember those prayers
Which I had done time and again
A prayer to escape home
A payer to keep the hungry lions silent
The journey was full of thoughts
Thoughts from childhood to present age
Thoughts that took me back and forth in time
Thought where hope and despair
Had to face one-another.
The arrival wasn’t bad
Though I didn’t know
Where I would finally end up
As destination was unknown
Life has now changed forever
For worse or better.
The airport was as huge as usual
Embracing people of all colour
Some looked familiar
While others confused
The way to the city wasn’t easy
Using the underground trains
To a place not booked before
It is all keeping going
Going, going, going. going.
Following instincts and thoughts
How tough is it to prefer the unknown
Over the little known
To keep life on hold
On hold for unknown time and future
On hold for reasons little known.

Bekele Debela