Growing support for city to join refugee movement
SWANSEA is set to join a movement aimed at welcoming refugees to cities across the UK.
Volunteers have launched a campaign to join the City of Sanctuary initiative, which involves a network of towns and cities providing safety and a welcome to people seeking refuge from persecution.
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Around 30 separate organisations locally have already agreed to support the project, including Swansea Council.
And organisers are looking to sign-up at least a further 70 before becoming an officially recognised city.
Swansea-based Keith Ross, of City of Sanctuary, said: "The idea is to create somewhere which is recognised as welcoming for people seeking sanctuary.
"The first stage is getting groups and organisations to sign-up and pledge they will be welcoming to people, and then following that up by getting them to lay-out practical guidelines to the way they can help."
The City of Sanctuary movement began in Sheffield in 2007, where a range of local organisations, community groups and faith communities publicly committed themselves to the principle. It became the country's first official City of Sanctuary.
Swansea now joins a growing number of UK locations, including London, Oxford, Bristol, Coventry and Norwich, to join the project.
In Swansea, organisations including Communities First and Swansea University's Department of Adult Continuing Education, have already agreed to join the movement.
Representatives joined the official City of Sanctuary launch held at St Helen's Primary School this week.
David Phillips, Swansea Labour group leader, said: "It is about offering a positive vision of our city. Swansea is a very welcoming and friendly city and in its own small way, cosmopolitan.
"Being displaced from your home and forced to go and live on the other side of the world, with little hope of return, is bad enough and something all of us would find difficult to deal with. We want to assist people who have sought sanctuary here to feel accepted and respected."
5 Comments
by Helen, The Hague
Thursday, February 19 2009, 9:51AM
“Dear Selwyn from Boston. Surely if we all stayed put, your ancestors would have remained in Wales? Since you have two homes, you may understand that we need to give sanctuary to people who don't even have one place they can call home. This is the point.
And you never know. Things can change. I want to quote an elderly, feisty Swansea woman. We were standing outside Iceland in Swansea, demanding that vouchers being proposed for asylum seeker families should be replaced with money (even though the allowance was only about 30 quid a week, still is). As the protest warmed up this woman shouted out to the shoppers: 'You never know - one day we all might need to ask for asylum, and who's going to let us in then, eh?'”
by Mark, UK
Tuesday, February 10 2009, 1:04PM
“These are common responses, but a bit simplistic. This is not an either/or issue. Nobody is taking money or resources away from local people. City of Sanctuary is simply about about behaving in a decent way towards people who arrive in our cities seeking a place of safety. It is simply a statement of respect, in the face of the more common disrespect you see in the popular media.
The question of "does this benifit the people of swansea" is interesting. Perhaps the answer lies in an increase of skills, ideas, creativity and cultural backgrounds? Perhaps also there's something to be gained from coming together as a community and deciding to act humanely towards others--countering the easy and dangerous us-and-them mentality which benefits nobody at all in the long run.”
by dave, Swansea
Monday, February 09 2009, 2:41PM
“I don't mind anyone "seeking sanctuary" The problem being when does it stop.
I would not normally object to anything like this and fight racism very hard.Swansea city council open your eyes.
If anyone needs a help in hand its the thousands of workers who have just lost their jobs.”
by allan elli, llanelli
Monday, February 09 2009, 1:14PM
“How on earth does this benifit the people of swansea - what a joke . i bet if you knocked door to door in the majority of swansea this would not be welcomed .”
by selwyn, boston
Monday, February 09 2009, 12:18AM
“I WAS HOME LAST SUMMER I DONT KNOW IF I WAS HOME OR NOT, YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, LOOK AFTER THE WELSH NOT OTHER;S SWANSEA IS WELSH AND LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY YOU DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE LETTING IN?.”