Pride as Swansea becomes the first city in Wales to be granted 'sanctuary' accolade
SWANSEA'S new status as a City of Sanctuary has now been marked with a multi-cultural celebration.
The city has become the first in Wales — and only the second in Britain — to be granted the accolade, which marks it out as a welcoming and friendly place for those seeking refuge.
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PROUD: Forward Maisokwadzo (centre) presents the City of Sanctuary award to Lord Mayor of Swansea, Richard Lewis and chief executive, Paul Smith.
The status was officially conferred at a ceremony at the Guildhall yesterday evening, which saw music, dancing, poetry and food from around the world.
Presenting the award to Lord Mayor Richard Lewis and Swansea Council's chief executive, Paul Smith, Zimbabwean Forward Maisokwadzo, from the National City of Sanctuary Network, said it was a humbling experience to be in the city on its special day.
Accepting the accolade, the Lord Mayor said: "This is a great achievement for Swansea.
"It is very important that we remember people who come to Swansea, and make them feel welcome — this is a welcoming town, and I hope this award leads to greater things in the future.
"I am very proud that we have achieved this status."
The City of Sanctuary Scheme aims to create a network of towns and cities throughout the UK which are proud to be places of safety for people who have fled from violence or persecution.
The movement began in 2005 in Sheffield, with the city being given the status two years later.
In order to gain recognition, a community has to show it is a place where the skills and cultures of people seeking sanctuary are valued — and contribute to the life of the city.
It also has to show people seeking refuge can easily build relationships with local people as neighbours, friends and colleagues.
Mr Smith said everyone in Swansea should be proud of what had been achieved.
"We are the first in Wales to achieve this," he said.
"It is in our hearts because it is what we want to be."
The ceremony included an exhibition of dance from the Welsh Tamil Arts and Culture School and the African Community Dancers, a multi-cultural choir performance, and Kurdish music and food.
Among the people attending the celebration was Taha Idris, director of Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council.
He said one of the strengths of Swansea was that members of minority communities were integrated throughout the county, from the tip of Gower to Clydach.
"Swansea is a place that has welcomed people for hundreds of years, from the Irish and Eastern Europeans through to people from Africa and Asia," he said.
"Receiving this new status is wonderful."
jason.evans@swwmedia.co.uk
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by Steve the Storyteller, Swansea
Wednesday, June 30 2010, 2:31PM
“Once upon a time there was a country called Uk. Its people were neither good nor bad but just like people everywhere. Over the years the people of Uk had faced many perils, invasion, wars, famine disease and poverty. But they had fought and struggled and many of its people had died to give the survivors a decent life. They had also gone to other countries and brought them railways and roads, hospitals and schools. They had also given them a model of good government and a system of law and order.
One day the people of Uk heard a banging on their gates and looking out they saw many people from a place called Firdworld asking to be let in. Let us in they said, in our countries we have war and disease and famine, we want the life you have. But the people of Uk replied, we too have gone through all of that and we have struggled and fought our wars and conquered our diseases you must do the same. The people of Firdworld didn¿t like that reply. You conquered us and invaded our countries many years ago. Yes said the people of Uk and we brought you many benefits but you were ungrateful and started murdering us and crying out for your independence. We gave you your independence but with it comes responsibility ¿ you are now responsible for your own lives.
Now some of the greedy politicians of Uk saw how they could make themselves even more important and told the people of Uk they must let the people of Firdworld in. So they were let in and the politicians got many awards such as ¿Certificate of Sanctuary¿. Of course the politicians didn¿t have any of the Firdworld people living next to them. Soon the people of Firdworld wanted more. You have nice things they cried, yes said the people of Uk, we worked for them. But the Firdworld people didn¿t want to do that so they started to murder people and take their things.
The people of Uk cried out that we are being murdered by these people from Firdworld send them back, but the politicians said you cannot do that as their life back there is not as good as here so you must let them continue to ruin your lives, just as long as we get more certificates.
And so it went on, gradually the people of Uk were forced from their towns and cities and they became refugees in their own land, but still they were told by their politicians that they must not complain otherwise they would not get any more certificates.
One day the people of Uk heard banging outside their gates and looked over the wall again. It was the people of Usa, a country thousands of miles across the sea, and they were tearing down the sign that said ¿This is UK¿ and putting up another one.
This new one read ¿This is Firdworld¿.”
by usul, swansea
Sunday, June 27 2010, 4:55PM
“my feeling are, as usual ,swansea very nice, islam better”
by Heather, Mumbles
Sunday, June 27 2010, 3:53PM
“Steve, Mayals, Swansea; well thank you for being a gentleman, I promise not to be nasty to you again :o)
Vim, 'ere; you make a good point. The major doctrinated religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) are vulgar!”
by Vim, 'ere
Sunday, June 27 2010, 1:04PM
“All religions are just a form of mental illness, the more devout the religion, the deeper the mental illness.
From paedophile priests to suicide bombers, all wasting their lives on the notion of some book. To believe in all that rubbish is one thing, but to encourage or force someone to follow them is, in my opinion, immoral.
The earth would be a better place if religion ceased to exist.”
by Steve, Mayals, Swansea
Sunday, June 27 2010, 12:45PM
“Heather: Thanks for your reply. Now I have a clearer idea of where you stand on the issue. No, of course I don¿t object to you having an opinion. Why should I? If you are referring to my earlier comment, I just meant that issues are complicated and so we should examine things from many angles, not just in rigid black and white terms. We cannot even say one person is fundamentally evil as people change continuously according to circumstances, so it is impossible to adamantly condemn a whole race or ethnic group as essentially bad.
Why would you think you offend me? I just wanted clarification of your views. In any case, there will always be people that oppose us and disagree with our opinions. That is life, and it would be quite boring if it were otherwise. Personally, I enjoy the exchange of ideas on this forum as long as people make statements that are based on facts and not just emotional rants. In the latter case, I cannot offer any relevant comments as I don¿t have any information to consider. Cheers again for taking the time to reply.”