Thursday 31st July, 6pm at Sheffield Town Hall Reception Room

This was a huge success, as over a hundred people came to hear from refugee and migrant worker communities in the UK, and to discuss the issues directly with Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

The evening started with speeches by Babak Kouravand and Yvonne Cass sharing issues facing people seeking sanctuary in the UK, followed by David de Vern, discussing the problems migrant workers encounter and the exploitative practices that are allowed to happen through a system of 21st century slavery in the hands of appallingly underregulated gangmasters.

Nick pledged to end the practice of detention and forced removal of young people and take the management of asylum out of the remit of politicians in order to create a fairer and more efficient system with closer links to the UN Refugee Agency. He also declared his support for the campaign for the Right to Work for Asylum seekers who have been here for over 2 months, while their case is being assessed.

There were a large number of questions from the floor leaving Nick with a lot of food for thought which we hope will inform future policy making and improve the experiences of people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

The event was organised by City of Sanctuary, SYMAAG and ASSIST.

(Photo: Graham Shackleton)