Organisations in the City of Sanctuary Network, which includes faith, arts and community groups alongside universities and schools, have written to Prime Minster Liz Truss calling for the scrapping of “cruel and hostile” asylum policies and instead lead with compassion. The letter is signed by 54 organisations, including the Catholic deanery of St Andrew in Cambridge and Cambridge City of Sanctuary Faiths’ Network. One school is the Sacred Heart Primary School in Birmingham, which is a School of Sanctuary.
Each of the signatories has a Sanctuary Award, a formal recognition of good practice in creating a culture of compassion, welcome and empowerment for refugees and asylum seekers. In the letter they say, “we work hard for our communities to be inclusive and cohesive”. They deplore people being punished simply for seeking sanctuary and want policies, “which represent who we are as a country”. They say this means a UK “that welcomes and protects people fleeing torture, war and persecution – irrespective of where they are from or how they reached our shores; a UK that is proud of its diversity and recognises and celebrates how we are enriched by new arrivals.”
Members of the Caritas Social Action Network have welcomed the letter.
Ben Gilchrist of Caritas Shrewsbury described it as a “privilege” to work with City of Sanctuary in Manchester, “in particular where together we support sanctuary seekers in temporary hotel accommodation”. St Mary’s Caritas Centre in Crewe is among the projects closely involved across Chester and Wirral. “We stand with the City of Sanctuary network and the over 400 organisations who are part of the Together With Refugees coalition in opposing the Government’s new anti-refugee laws,” Gilchrist told The Tablet this week.
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