On Saturday 15th November 2014 in Birmingham, City of Sanctuary held a national conference, ‘Standing in Solidity with Asylum Seekers and Refugees’. Over 400 people attended from all over the British Isles. There were guest speakers and workshops throughout the day.
Guest speakers included Maurice Wren, the Refugee Council, Chief Executive who stated, “Let’s reclaim the centre position of the political debate empathy, compassion and common sense. Working together we’ll drive those who denigrate and demonise migrants to the extreme where they belong.”
Refugees told their stories of seeking asylum, one said, “I felt like a lone voice in the wilderness and now we the members of the Sanctuary Summit are representing the ones lost in the wilderness.” Another refugee in his testimony stated, “I can now sleep with my eyes closed.”
I may face problems in life, I may lose my job, I may struggle with family illness but I have never, ever had to sleep with my eyes open. The safety and sanctuary of my life I totally take for granted. Again I was reminded how precious that it and also how difficult life is now in my country for people who had fled violence and persecution in their own country. I feel ashamed of the policies enacted out by the elected government in my country.
The workshops in the morning looked at these policies, such as, detention, legal advice and representation, destitution, the right to work and access to healthcare.
I attended the ‘Welcome, befriending and language tuition’ workshop and was saddened to hear that it is now government policy that an asylum seeker is unable to attend an official English language class for the first six month on their arrival; surely the most important time to start to learn the language and make friends and become part of a community.
It now seems obvious to me that we are at war with this government. Many people like myself are angry about how badly asylum seekers and refugees are treated. We want this country to be a real place of sanctuary. Public awareness is the key to destroy the lies of the media and right wing political parties such as UKIP. The truth needs to be told.
In the afternoon practical workshops helped us explore these avenues: working with the media (looking at positive stories ensuring accuracy and tackling negative responses), lobbying MP’s, effective campaigning, working with local councils, raising awareness through social media and engaging new audiences through the Arts.
One of the highlights for many seemed to be guest speakers the ‘Glasgow Girls’. Their story was inspiring.
Amal came to the UK from Somalia in 2000 when she was ten with her pregnant mother having to leave her father behind. Leaving family in London they were relocated by the Home Office to Glasgow. In 2005 one of her school friends Agnesa, family’s home was raided at dawn by 14 Home Office officials. Her father was handcuffed in front of the family and they were sent to Yarlswood detention centre to be deported back to Kosovo.
The next day at school Amal aged 15 refused to go to her lessons saying to her teacher, “I don’t understand why a child is being treated like a criminal. She has done nothing wrong. There is a reason asylum seekers leave their families, the weather, their culture – you have to be in a very desperate situation to do that. To come to the UK and be treated like that is completely inhumane.”
Amal stated to the conference, “Believe it or not I was a shy girl but something inside of me changed when that happened, the humanity was awaken inside of me. I had my right to remain already. I thought Agnesa is a child like me the only difference is a piece of paper.”
She started to campaign with her school friends for Agnesa and her family’s release. They were supported by her teacher, headmaster, local community, local newspaper and the story was picked up by the BBC who later made a film about the girls stating, “7 school girls from Glasgow took on the Home Office and won.”
All the girls still campaign and their lives have been transformed by the experience.
Amal works raising awareness of mental health with female asylum seekers. She declared, “The asylum system is not fit for purpose. It is designed to give a person mental health issues if they didn’t have then to start with.” But she added, “It is possible to have a humane asylum system.”
One of the key outcomes from the summit was the Birmingham Declaration outlining principles that need to be adhered to in order to create a fair and humane asylum system. The Birmingham Declaration is written in full below with the aim of hundreds of organisations to sign up and endorse it.
If you click on this link – https://sanctuarysummit2014.wordpress.com it will take you to the Sanctuary Summit and on the home page the photograph happens to be on our row, can you spot any familiar faces, Jeff, Jackie, Lynda and Ram.
For more information about the Glasgow Girls, google Glasgow Girls BBC.
By Felicity Brangan
h3. 2014 Sanctuary Summit Communiqué The Birmingham Declaration
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The first Sanctuary Summit, 15th November 2014, Birmingham
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Britain has a long tradition of offering protection to those fleeing persecution, many of whom have gone on to make a considerable contribution to our society. It also has a reputation for fairness and justice that is the envy of many other nations.
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We believe that the great majority of British people are sympathetic towards those who come here seeking help and protection.
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We have come together in Birmingham on 15th November 2014 in recognition that the position of refugees and migrants is aggravated in Europe and in Britain in an unprecedented way. We can no longer just watch in silence as millions flee Syria only to be warehoused in refugee camps and thousands drown in desperate attempts to reach the Western world across the sea. This is a matter of life and death.
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We commit ourselves to work together to ensure that our great country continues to be a safe place for those fleeing persecution and a welcoming place for all people who come here to study, work or join family and who will work alongside us to build a just and fair society.
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We commit ourselves today to a core set of principles and asks that will strengthen our collective efforts to protect the rights of strangers amongst us. Through these commitments we seek accountability and justice. We are asking our Parliament and our Government to take necessary steps to deliver that change.
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These commitments tackle the causes and consequences of the very vulnerable position refugees and migrants find themselves in. They are within the scope of the international protection framework that Britain has been signatory to for decades.
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Recognising that we all have a role to play, we are asking our Government to do all they can to ensure that:
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1. All asylum seekers, refugees and migrants should be treated with dignity and respect.
_We ask that the debate on immigration is conducted with care for the dignity of people who are vulnerable, who do not have a voice in the public domain and who have to suffer the consequences of inaccurate and inflammatory language. _
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We appeal to all politicians and to the media to conduct the pre-election debate responsibly, sticking to the facts and bearing these principles in mind.
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2. A fair and effective process to decide whether people need protection should be in place.
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_We ask for a high standard of decision making on refugee protection cases. After years of very public failure, we demand a system that is fair and efficient and ensures protection for those who need it. _
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People should have access to good quality legal advice and representation during the process, publicly funded when they are unable to pay. Not everyone is entitled to refugee status in Britain, but they are entitled to a fair process to determine if they are in need of protection.
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3. No one should be locked up indefinitely.
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_We seek an end to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers and migrants. No one should be deprived of their liberty with no judicial oversight. Indefinite detention is unacceptable, costly and ineffective. _
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We ask for a reasonable time limit to be introduced and other safeguards put in place to ensure the lawfulness and fairness within the system.
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4. No one should be left sick or destitute in our society.
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It cannot be right that people are left destitute in modern Britain, banned from working but denied support. Until they are granted protection and can work, asylum seekers should receive sufficient support to meet their essential living needs while in the UK. We are asking that those whose cases have taken more than six months to resolve, or who have been refused but are unable to return home, should receive permission to work. All of them should be allowed free access to NHS services
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5. We should welcome the stranger and help them to integrate.
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People should integrate, and we should help them to do so. We are asking for support for asylum seekers to be welcomed and befriended on arrival. To help them integrate and participate in the local community they should be able to learn English, with free tuition provided where needed.
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We make a commitment to take action on these principles and asks together and translate them into collaborative actions in our organisations and communities locally and nationally in the run up to the next general elections and beyond.
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We commit ourselves to work strategically together. We will come back next year to check our progress against these principles and asks and make plans for what needs to be done in the future, together. Below are the first of what we believe will be hundreds of organisations signing this declaration.
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