All four major candidates for London Mayor have recently backed the proposals of the Strangers into Citizens campaign for an 'earned pathway into citizenship' for undocumented migrants, including refused asylum-seekers.

Under the proposals, an estimated 500,000 people who are currently prevented from working legally and paying taxes, would have an opportunity of working towards legal status.

The New Statesman has published an article by Donna Covey, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, outlining the support they would like to see from London Mayoral candidates, which includes:

"we would also like to see all candidates for London Mayor express their commitment to welcoming refugees to London. A nationwide initiative has begun, to mark Britain's cities as ‘Cities of Sanctuary'. The next Mayor has a unique opportunity to back London as the first Olympic City of Sanctuary. Above all, London should be celebrated as providing a place of safety for those fleeing persecution across the world."

Read the full article here.

There is a new working group being formed to make London a City of Sanctuary, if you are a Londoner and would like to be involved please contact us.

In 2007 Norwich became the first UK city to join the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). Through this scheme, Norwich offers residency to politically exiled writers who have been denied freedom of speech in their home countries.

Norwich City of Refuge has now joined the national City of Sanctuary movement, in order to share their experience of building community programmes on issues of human rights and asylum more widely throughout the UK.

Here are some ideas for activities which have been successful in building hospitality for asylum-seekers and refugees. You can also add your own ideas by leaving a comment below.

City of Sanctuary is teaming up with the Refugee Council, the UK’s largest refugee organisation, to support local groups throughout the UK in developing their own Cities of Sanctuary. We have also received funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to support this work. There is already a City of Sanctuary working group in Leicester, and people working to set one up in Leeds, and in 2008 we aim to see a growing national City of Sanctuary movement that can start to influence policy-makers and public attitudes throughout the country.

On 4th June we will be holding a national conference in Sheffield, inviting people from around the country to find out how they can develop their own city of Sanctuary initiatives. If you think you could be involved in setting up or joining a local working group please contact us to find out how we could support you.

On Tuesday 18th September we held a media launch at Sheffield Town Hall with the Mayor of Sheffield and community leaders from some of our supporting organisations, including Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Hindu communities, Sheffield Hallam Student Union, Sheffield Futures, and The Co-operative group. The event was covered by BBC Radio Sheffield, Hallam FM, The Star and The Telegraph, and was picked up nationally by BBC Radio Five Live. It would be really helpful if our supporters could look out for mentions of City of Sanctuary in the media over the next few weeks, and respond to any letters or comments that are critical of the movement. It's important for us to tell our stories so that the debate isn't left to those who are hostile to refugees.

There is now a City of Sanctuary group on Facebook here.
If you are a Facebook user, please invite your friends.

A team of Sheffield-based asylum-seekers and refugees have started their own City of Sanctuary 'blogs' - writing about their views and experiences of life in Sheffield. Click on the 'Asylum Blogs' link in the menu above to read their work, and please leave your comments or questions for them by clicking on the 'Comments' link underneath any blog post. We are running a weekly drop-in bloggers' workshop, led by Mark Gibbens, on Wednesdays from 11am to 5pm, at Access Space, 1 Sidney St, S1 4RG. Tel:0114 249 5522 If you are a refugee or asylum-seeker, or someone who befriends or supports them, and you would like to write your own blog on this website please contact us.

At the launch of Refugee Week launch on 18th June, the Mayor of Sheffield announced that the City Council has pledged its support for City of Sanctuary. Sheffield has now become the first UK city to make a public commitment to welcoming asylum-seekers and refugees - the first 'City of Sanctuary'.

In his speech, the Mayor said, 'I'm pleased to announce today that the City Council declares its support for City of Sanctuary, this means that the City Council is now publicly committed to working with others to promote a welcoming city for asylum-seekers and refugees.'

There is still plenty of work to be done in encouraging other local organisations to become involved, and in working with the City Council and others on finding ways to translate this commitment into practice. But it is a major landmark in the movement to create a culture of hospitality for asylum-seekers and refugees, and we would like to express our thanks to all of our supporters for making it possible.

We hope soon to begin discussions with groups in other cities to try to create Cities of Sanctuary around the UK.