A reflection for the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in Sheffield, 27th January

Last year I was at a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the Kindertransport, a voluntary effort that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Holocaust by offering them sanctuary in the homes of British people.

For me it was an overwhelming experience to meet so many elderly people, some of them still with German accents, who had come to Britain as small children, saved from the concentration camps by ordinary British people.

Several of the survivors on that day spoke about their sorrow at having to leave their parents behind, because the British government had refused to accept them, so most of them were murdered. Because at that time there was no international agreement to offer protection to people in need of sanctuary, and no country would offer to take them in.

The United Nations Refugee Convention was created in 1951, to make sure that the world would never shut its doors again. The Refugee Convention gave people facing persecution the legal right to claim sanctuary in a safe country. It is part of the legacy of hope from the Holocaust and it is a precious achievement.

But the right to sanctuary is now under threat. Over the last decade in this country people seeking sanctuary have been scapegoated and demonised. Our newspapers have stirred up hatred and resentment against them. Our politicians have created laws specifically to target them, so that people seeking sanctuary are routinely made destitute without the right to work, refused health care, arrested at dawn and detained indefinitely without charge, including over 1000 children held in British detention centres every year.

When a group in society is scapegoated and targeted for persecution, it is up to all of us to speak up for them; to build a culture that defends the vulnerable and that bridges divisions between people. The people of Sheffield have set an example of how to do this by becoming the UK’s first ‘City of Sanctuary’ – making a citywide commitment to becoming a place of welcome and safety. This commitment has been made by local people in over 100 Sheffield organisations, who are prepared to stand up for people seeking sanctuary in their own communities. Being a place of safety and welcome is something Sheffield people should be proud of, and it continues to give me hope.