Good news for our first entry! The press release for our City of Sanctuary launch meeting is in this week's Chester Chronicle! (p65 for anyone who may be local)

Here is a slightly longer version of our press release. The photo included in the article can be found on our Facebook group page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=127815238112

Chester City of Sanctuary

Meeting Report

15th September 2009

 

City of Sanctuary is a national grassroots movement of local people and community groups.

 

Two meetings were held today in Chester to launch this program, at the Quaker Meeting House and Chester University.

 

We want Chester to be a welcoming place for people seeking sanctuary from war and persecution.

 ‘Chester led the way in being the first Fairtrade city in the UK. We aim to make it the first City of Sanctuary in the Northwest.’

Joseph O’ Neill, Chair, Global Inclusion

  

The meeting is to act as a focus for initiatives in the North West and North Wales.

 

The meeting was hosted, funded, and organised by Global Inclusion, a voluntary agency supporting Sanctuary Seekers (asylum seekers) and other socially excluded groups: Gina Phillips the administrator of Global Inclusion gave a brief introduction.

 

Global Inclusion – a brief history

 

Global Inclusion arose from a life changing with meeting a Sanctuary Seeker (asylum seeker) over 4 years ago. Our voluntary group provides:

• A weekly women and children’s group
• Social outings, holidays in North Wales
• A nationally recognised ‘Asylum Health’ month long course introducing medical students to Sanctuary Seekers
• School visits to explore global citizenship
• Practical financial support , and payment for further training for Sanctuary Seekers
• Annual art exhibitions to raise awareness of refugee issues – Cherie Blair bought a picture from one of our Sanctuary Seeker artists!

  

Our Steering Committee members are:-

 

Joseph O’ Neill

Marian McCarthy

Peter Byrne

Tom Ormiston

Julia Taylor

Rob Sculthorpe

Elchin Samadov

Jan Macintosh

Weston Chimuzu

  

Present were representatives from the City Council (CWAC), Refugee Action, UN Gateway Protection Program; Chester, Liverpool, and Hope Universities; Chester Asian Council (CAC), Chester World Development Forum, Shrewsbury and Liverpool Justice and Peace Network,  Student Action for Refugees (STAR), Chester Voluntary Action Compact, Asylum Link Merseyside, Association for Visitors in Detention (AVID), and representatives from Wigan , Leigh, Shropshire and  Manchester.

 Five Sanctuary Seekers (asylum seekers) from Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe spoke at the start of the meetings, and gave a moving witness to their sufferings in the UK. Most speakers were graduates, and spoke of their frustration at not being allowed to work, their poverty and isolation, their severe mental anguish, their rejection by UK society. ‘Many of us are graduates, and do not want to be on welfare. We wish to use our skills to work and contribute to British society. Please help us to do this.’ 

City of Sanctuary – a national initiative

 Rev. Inderjit Bhogal, OBE, (former President of the Methodist Church) and Craig Barnett, founders of the movement in Sheffield, told us that it has expanded rapidly throughout the UK, but has no presence till today in the North West or North Wales. ‘Chester welcomes tourists from all over the world: why not welcome Sanctuary Seekers too?’

Inderjit Bhogal, Chair City of Sanctuary, former President of the Methodist Church

City of Sanctuary is a grassroots flexible movement, which adapts to local opportunities in each City. ‘City of Sanctuary is unique in involving groups – schools, churches, colleges, clubs, small businesses-  who wish to help, but who normally have little direct contact with Sanctuary Seekers.’

Craig Barnett, National Lead, City of Sanctuary

 

The UN Gateway Protection Program

 

Paul McAvoy and Ronnie Murphy form Refugee Action North West, introduced the UN Gateway Protection Program, which takes people from refugee camps abroad who have been granted full official refugee status in the UK. Small selected groups of Sanctuary Seekers have been placed throughout the North West, and are fully funded from central resources. The program has been very successful, and City of Sanctuary, Refugee Action and Global Inclusion believe Chester would be an ideal new site for this UN program.

 

Reasons why Chester will be an ideal City of Sanctuary

 

• Chester already welcome tourists from all over the world
• Chester has many highly skilled professionals who have worked abroad and would be willing to provide voluntary support
• Chester University Departments of Nursing, International Development, and Trauma Counselling have demonstrated and interest in this area.
• Many Sanctuary Seekers are graduates , and could eventually contribute to the local economy
• Chester would be become a more vibrant multicultural environment
• The UN Gateway Protection Program comes with full funding for the first year, and would provide employment. Very small numbers of Sanctuary Seekers are granted full refugee status for the UK under the UN 1951 Convention rules, through UNHCR camps abroad, and a full range of support is provided.
• Refugee Action is very keen to introduce the UN Program, and has valuable experience learnt from introducing it elsewhere in the North West

  

The Future:

 

After and enthusiastic and lengthy discussion, the following were agreed:

 

1. To set up a Chester City of Sanctuary steering Committee and Reference Group.

 

2. To support the development of Chester as a new site for the UN Gateway Protection Program.

 

3. To assist Chester University Student’s Union in developing a Student Action for Refugees (STAR) group.

 

4.  For individuals to approach their local community contacts (Churches, Educational establishments, Social Clubs) to sign Resolutions of Support (available from Global Inclusion) for the City of Sanctuary initiative.

 

5. Global Inclusion can provide Sanctuary Speakers to speak at schools, churches, and other groups.

 

6. For members to acquaint themselves with the website for City of Sanctuary at www.cityofsanctuary.org

 

For further details and enquiries, please contact:

Joseph O’ Neill (07967 370 358) or Gina Phillips (0151 355 4008, 0755 159 8980), or via email on global.inclusion@yahoo.co.uk

  

A travelling art exhibition on children and refugee issues entitled ‘Loss of Innocence’, curated by Rod Cox, and sponsored by Global Inclusion is visiting Liverpool Anglican Cathedral from September 26th to October 6th 2009.