Notes from City of Sanctuary Conference Newcastle Civic Centre 15th of May 2018

Part 1 morning session

Susan Mansaray – Tees Valley City of Sanctuarywelcomed everyone. She explained that she found sanctuary in the UK. She was dispersed to the North-East and got her status. She runs a community group there focused on FGM, raising awareness all over the country and the region. Welcomed everyone on behalf of all sanctuary seekers. ‘We are proud that the North-East has done so much to be a place of sanctuary for those who need it. Nearly 1000 Syrians have now found sanctuary here.’‘We are glad this conference is taking place here in a context of challenging the hostile environment of this Government.’

Sabir Zazai – Chair of City of SanctuarySabir is the chair of the Board of Trustees for City of Sanctuary UK and welcomed everyone to the AGM. He is a refugee from Afghanistan and recently became the Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council.‘So many people travelling from so far to be here shows the huge commitment we have to offering sanctuary all over the UK.’ He noted that we are living through the worst refugee crisis in history with 65 million people

forced to flee from their homes. We need to think about how we create communities which can be proud of the warm welcome and hospitality that we extend to all people. ‘Refugees are just humans who have hopes, aspirations and dreams like everyone else and just need our protection, welcome and respect.’ ‘We believe we can change the world and create a more welcoming environment by working together and mobilising the grassroots. We can break boundaries by promoting welcome.’‘It is vital that we build a strong, resilient movement in the face of a hostile environment from this government.’

Sian Summer-Rees – Chief Officer for City of SanctuaryGreat to be with everyone today. She shared some reflections on 2017 and thanked all the staff, volunteers and trustees for all their work. The priority in 2017 was to support the network of groups, improve the website and look at additional resources. We always want to learn how we can best support the network. She shared some information about the development of the next stage of the movement. There will be focus on developing the partnerships and streams work to ensure that we involve as many people as possible in the movement. She thanked the trustees and particularly Colleen for deputising for her whilst she has been on adoption leave.

Joyce McCarty – Deputy Leader of Newcastle City CouncilWelcomed everyone to Newcastle. There is a context of significant austerity which creates a lot of challenges. A lot of what we are talking about today is not statutory so it is very hard to continue to support this work but we are trying as hard as we can. Newcastle has been welcoming asylum seekers for many years and there is a very dynamic community and voluntary sector. Bringing people together through the arts, advice, gardening, English classes and much more. When we decided to become a City of Sanctuary we knew this had to come from the grassroots. This enabled us to take the motion to council which was passed in 2014. Newcastle has welcomed Afghani families who used to work with the British military and have now had 236 Syrians Resettlement through the Vulnerable People’s Resettlement Scheme. ‘We need to focus on what brings us together and not what divides us. See people as Mum’s, students, gardeners, singers and help them achieve their dreams and their hopes.’‘We will continue to work with schools and others to help them become places of sanctuary.’

Marchu Girma – Women for Refugee Women Keynote speaker‘The Oxford English Dictionary defines sanctuary as a place of refuge or safety. I disagree – it also needs a place of hope for tomorrow, hope for a future, hope for life.’ Marchu came to England as an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (USAC) at 11 years old and grew up in a children’s home. ‘At 15 I was an angry teenager but then someone at the home helped me see that I could do my part to make my world and the rest of the world a better place.’ Marchu began to campaign and find her place as a changemaker. ‘It can feel overwhelming to be involved in this movement because it always feels like what we are doing is not enough. But I can tell you, you are all doing your part. We need to influence politicians as part of this movement and it has been great to be part of City of Sanctuary and to be part of the Sanctuary in Parliament in events. This has inspired us to be actively involved in political lobbying and we took our message to Parliament on

International Women’s Day, All Women Count. It is important to highlight the particular vulnerabilities of women in the world.’

Mariam Ibrahim Yousef – Women Asylum Seekers Together Named Woman of the Year at the 2016 Women on the Move awards. She is an active campaigner on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and women’s rights and a member of Women and Asylum Seekers Together (WAST), Manchester.‘I was detained in the UK. Detention is a place like a prison and no asylum seeker should be sent there. We are taken there without charge and once we are there we lose our accommodation and support and are therefore rendered homeless when released. When people are detained they become depressed, lose their self-esteem and confidence and they don’t trust anybody. To survive they sleep at bus stops, get into illegal jobs and women are extremely vulnerable.’ Women Asylum-Seekers Together is working with Women for Refugee Women to campaign against detention and destitution for asylum seekers. WAST have made a short film on what it is like to be detained focusing on women and families. ‘I want to thank City of Sanctuary for all the important work they do to create welcome for people in my situation. You don’t know how important what you offer is.’

Ina–Tees Valley of SanctuaryHas campaigned for women’s rights and awareness of period poverty and is an EU migrant/refugee?? She was involved in Sanctuary in Parliament and has got her local MP involved who took the message to Parliament on International Women’s Day. This was then used by Assembly Members in the Welsh Parliament as part of their campaign on period poverty and is now being promoted in England. This is the power that we have when we are given a platform and encouragement to speak out. ‘Thank you so much to this movement for giving people like me a chance to speak out and to have confidence.’

Forward Maisokwadzo – City of Sanctuary Communications and MediaBriefly outlined some of the highlights from England over the last 12 months including an increase in Universities of Sanctuary, more places outside of towns and cities offering welcoming through hosting and respite; the new Sanctuary Centre in Sheffield and much more. He introduced the new regional coordinators:

Ben Margolis – Central England, East of England, London and the South-EastSam Slatcher – North-EastSara Trewith – Yorkshire and Humber

Also Sarah Wilson of #PenrithWelcomesRefugees who spoke briefly about Penrith and Eden Refugee Network and Penrith’s readiness to support six refugees with gaining employment, housing, support and welcome if they move to Penrith. Flyer attached.

Jonathan Ellis – Vice-Chair of City of Sanctuary

Jonathan spoke of how much had been achieved over the past year and the importance of reaching beyond the City of Sanctuary groups and streams. ‘We are really proud of our network, but we need to be part of a much wider movement that transcends the network and involves as many people as possible. We need to reach out to groups that have never been involved before. We need to work on two sides – on one side the welcome, on the other the political change that we want to see. Asylum Matters is taking forward the policy and practice changes that we want to see. Please support the political changes that they are promoting where you can, so we can see lasting change.’

Groups worked in tables to discuss- What activities, projects and initiatives does

your group take part in or aspire to?- How do they help to realise the CoS vision?- How can the new National Advisory Board

keep us all connected and stay true to our principles and vision?

Notes from these discussions will inform the work of City of Sanctuary over the year ahead.

Tiffy Allen - Update from Ireland and Scotland

IrelandCity of Sanctuary is known as Places of Sanctuary in Ireland. New groups springing up everywhere. Lots of work with Universities. In Northern Ireland there are now many Schools of Sanctuary. Groups also developing in Scotland with support from Chair and Vice-Chair, Sabir and Jonathan.

Sanctuary in Politics. Discovered lots of refugees coming to Ireland did not know how the system worked or how to get their voice out there. Gathered together 30 or 40 refugees and asylum seekers and give them the opportunity to learn how to tell their story in such a way that people are going to listen. How to work with the media, how to speak on the TV, how to speak to the public and get the right message across. Also introduced people to the way politics works in Ireland and introduced them to politicians from all parties. Some graduates from the course have become mentors on the course.

LUNCH