Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Cambridge

The threatened deportation of a Sierra Leonian man prompted an hour long programme about asylum on BBC Radio Sheffield. Including interviews with City of Sanctuary, ASSIST and other groups and individuals that support people seeking sanctuary, the only opposition came in the form of texts that presenter Toby Foster described as just ‘racist’. Despite the producers’ efforts, none of those sending negative messages were prepared to come on air to explain their views.
As another caller pointed out, opponents of asylum usually speak from a position of ignorance. Well, refusing to engage in debate suggests they may also realise they’re on dodgy ground. Let’s not forget though that those people may be feeling insecure for other reasons such as poverty and unemployment and those of us trying to raise the level of the asylum debate need to take that into account as well.
In an encouraging post script to the broadcast, news came through that the planned deportation had been cancelled – that’ll be another bit of public money wasted on all the preparation, security, detention, paperwork etc.

People in positions of power and influence are such targets for pressure groups and individuals pleading their case, they must give careful thought to which issues they are going to home in on.

So the Easter message the Archbishop of York (pictured here skydiving from 13,000 feet up) chose to put before readers of The Independent will not have been delivered lightly – and is therefore all the more powerful for that.

Not only does Dr Sentamu – himself a refugee from Uganda – speak strongly in support of the UK extending the hand of welcome to anyone who needs it. He goes further, highlighting the “increasingly unpalatable evidence” from countries like Congo and Cameroon, that refused asylum seekers sent back there “are subjected to imprisonment, torture, abuse and starvation”.

Let’s hope UKBA and their enforcers read this article before carrying out their threat to send Djoly, currently faced with deportation from Sheffield, and others in a similar situation, back to the so-called Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hello,

My name’s Giulia and I’ve come from Italy to work with City of Sanctuary for four months. I thought I’d share my impressions after my first month in Sheffield.

What has positively impressed me most is the high involvement of asylum seekers and refugees as volunteers in group activities.

In my past experience I have seen that it has often been difficult to get them involved in social initiatives promoted by local people.

The reason might be that they felt it was a “charitable gift” from local people rather than a social occasion useful for everyone from the community. In the case of asylum seekers and refugees participating, it was because they felt it as compulsory and not wanting to seem “ungrateful” for the “support” they were receiving from other people.

The spontaneous questions which arise from this are: who decides who is the rightful member of the community if it is not the community itself? Who makes the community? What makes the sense of “local”?

I can, instead, observe in Sheffield a mutual engagement from all people living in the city – whether or not they were born here- in organising, handling and participating in local events or activities: that gives the real meaning of what is local and attests to the simple essence of what is ‘community’

Letter from Colnbrook

I am going to nowhere land
They deporting me from England
I was looking for my home land
What a destiny that I am banned
I wanna go back to my home town
Sheffield is my home land
They say Afghanistan is your land
UKBA took me to Colnbrook
They sending me to nowhere land.

Reza
06/03/11

A new report by the counter terrorism think tank Quilliam warns how the careless use of language can exacerbate misunderstanding and community tension. It shows how using the “wrong” words can “inadvertently strengthen the narratives and arguments of Islamism” – that the world is divided into two opposing camps, one of Muslims and another of non-Muslims.

Quilliam is a London-based organisation that aims to “generate creative thought paradigms through informed and inclusive discussion to counter the Islamist ideology behind terrorism “. Its report Islamism and Language shows for example how using the term ‘Muslim World’ suggests that this is a homogenuous bloc that is united by a single political and religious outlook.

In their conclusion the authors offer alternatives to that and other expressions under the microscope – ‘Muslim countries’, The Muslim Community, ‘Islamic law’ and ‘Islamophobia’.

The discussion reminds me of author/journalist Steven Poole’s book Unspeak, which illustrates the way such words can be used as weapons to ‘frame’ and manipulate political debate. And recent conversations about the use of words such as ‘multiculturalism’ make me think it’d be a good idea to have a public discussion about such things – possibly at Sheffield’s Off the Shelf literary festival this autumn. Watch this space…

The recent 'community social' we organised in the Gleadless area of Sheffield was really heartwarming for the number of different organisations and individuals who came together to make it happen.
One of the groups at the centre of it was Mediation Sheffield (MESH), who have produced a report giving their reflections on the event. They highlight the importance of a common language in breaking down cultural and other differences, and noted how food played a big part in achieving this - with local residents bringing Yorkshire puddings complete with various fillings, to complement the tasty offerings from the Karen, Kurdish and Iranian communities.
MESH also discovered that it's not just people arriving here as refugees who have difficulty sometimes making social contact, but longer term residents who have experienced bereavement or other difficuties in their lives. As they talked with these people they found other areas of common ground, such as shared professional interests.
We're hoping to build on the contacts made at the Gleadless event and roll the lessons out to other parts of the city.

Channel 4 Dispatches programme painted a disturbing portrait last night (Nov 29) of the way Britain treats the youngest and most vulnerable people who come here seeking asylum. The hour-long programme focused on three cases, a 10-year-old Iranian boy (pictured), a 16-year-old Afghan and a 22-year-old Ugandan woman, showing how they have been brutalised by the UK asylum system.

In one clip, the young Iranian boy tells how he and his family were taken away in a Border Agency van, caged like animals. His headmistress says when he was released from detention he was so traumatised he could no longer write his own name. At one point the family return from hiding to find UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials have been to their home and wripped open the boy’s teddy in their search for identity documents in preparation for deporting them.

The examples present a graphic illustration of the culture of disbelief at UKBA and an asylum system that in some cases causes them profound psychological and physical harm.
You can see more details and watch the prpogramme again here.

What’s in a name?

facebook discussion

City of Sanctuary is going through a period of rapid growth and change and with more groups springing up by the day the web support, advice and resources administered by the national organisation are more important than ever before. A social network like facebook should be an ideal space for City of Sanctuary groups around the country to discuss issues of Nationl importance, but it is not being used in such a way at present. It would be great to know whether facebook is a useful place for interaction on issues facing City of Sanctuary and if not, where is? Please send your ideas to admin@cityofsanctuary.org, or post them on the facebook page facebook page
At present there is a discussion topic on the name City of Sanctuary and whether we should aquire legal ownership of it, such as copyright, service mark or intellectual property rights… If we do not, someone else could get the rights and stop us from using it… Someone may decide to use it for another purpose – how about a City of Sanctuary which is a haven for white supremesists and seeks to keep all non-whites out? What problems may new and developing groups around the country experience if the name and logo were legally branded – would there be a danger of groups being prevented from using the logo until they had met enough of the criteria outlined in the handbook? It would be great to have some feedback from the many groups and supporters around the country on this and other issues of national importance. Please go to the facebook page at facebook discussion
If your not a fan of facebook, please email to admin@cityofsanctuary.org

We ran a training session on public speaking at the weekend, delivered by Jen Skapeti from 'Speakers Bank' in London. The results were amazing and I'm planning to show them off at Sheffield City of Sanctuary's new year party. There were 14 participants, from places as far apart as Chechnya, Yemen and Uganda. None of them had English as their first language and all started the day a little bit nervous about just standing up and introducing themselves. Six hours later I watched in awe as each participant delivered a 3-minute speech on a subject they felt passionate about. These ranged from the value of education and family, to the evils of fast food. Stay tuned for news of their repeat performance in the new year.