Shropshire Council to seek refugee ‘sanctuary’ status

Shropshire Council is to seek national accreditation for its work in welcoming refugees who have settled in the county.

Councillors unanimously agreed at a meeting on Thursday to begin working towards ‘Council of Sanctuary’ status.

The nationwide accreditation programme, led by national charity City of Sanctuary, recognises areas which offer a place of safety to refugees and asylum seekers, and value the contribution they make to society.

In showing its support for the movement, the council has pledged to embed the City of Sanctuary values into its policies and practices, and will now begin collating the evidence required to apply for the award.

Belle Vue councillor Kate Halliday, who put forward the motion, told members it would not commit the council to accepting any more refugees and would not cost any money – but would simply seek to recognise work already being done in the county to welcome those fleeing violence and persecution.

She said: “In order to help support people resettled in Shropshire, the council’s resettlement officer has worked together with Shropshire Supports Refugees (SSR), a local charity that helps people move into the county and resettle here.

“They have over 150 volunteers who have supported this work, which is a real testament to the welcoming nature of our county.

“The charity carries out a range of activities including befriending, support with education, language and employment, and working closely with other local organisations.

“By its support of SSR, the council has recognised that a co-ordinated and forward-looking approach is needed for the welfare of people moving to the county who are refugees, and also to support community cohesion between new and existing communities.

“By applying for this Authority of Sanctuary status we would strengthen the quality of this existing service and give Shropshire Council and its supporting organisations the recognition that I feel it deserves in its work with refugees.

“It’s a really straight-forward process that would be led by the council. The main focus is on learning from others, embedding this learning into our procedures and sharing good news stories.

“Once this process is complete we’d apply for recognition, and I’m really confident we’d achieve this because of the work that’s already being done.

“Along the way we would learn a lot from others and hopefully be able to give them some learning as well from our own experience.

“To summarise, I think Shropshire is a welcoming county which values diversity and acknowledges the strengths and contributions not only of Salopians but of others who settle in the county.”

Councillor Dean Carroll, the cabinet member with responsibility for the council’s refugee resettlement work, said he was “delighted” to support the motion.

He said: “I did meet with City of Sanctuary representatives and the leadership of SSR last week and we talked about this, because there were a few things that I wanted to reassure myself of before I gave complete and unfettered support to this motion.

“The first one of those was that it is aligned with our existing policy as a council which is to prioritise quality over quantity, so to recognise that we cannot solve everybody’s problems but when we do welcome people in who seek sanctuary here we provide them with the best possible service that we can.

“No local authority or country is perfect in this sense but I believe that Shropshire is right up there as one of the best, and in SSR, Shropshire Council commission to do a lot of the support work, I believe we have a fantastic partner organisation.

“The second thing was that I wanted to be sure that this accreditation process wouldn’t draw funds away from front-line work, and I’m now assured by officers and City of Sanctuary that this won’t draw funds away from the work we are doing to support resettled communities.

“And finally the third point I wanted to be assured of was that this included everybody seeking sanctuary in Shropshire, not just families we have taken in under the Syrian Resettlement Programme but also people fleeing domestic violence.

“Although it doesn’t garner the headlines for obvious reasons, we do give sanctuary to quite significant number of people who are fleeing domestic violence from other parts of this country.

“The response from City of Sanctuary representatives was that their policy is ‘sanctuary to all’, which is Shropshire Council’s unofficial, unadopted motto in this area.

“So, having passed those three ‘tests’, I have great pleasure in endorsing and supporting this motion.”

Councillor Ruth Houghton, who previously worked for the council leading its resettlement programme before she was elected, said taking this step was “exactly what the council should be doing”.

She said: “We have been extremely successful in settling families under the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme and unaccompanied asylum seeker children.

“The council should be adopting this, it’s good practice and it accredits the very good work that’s being done by officer and voluntary organisations across the county.”

The motion was unanimously supported by councillors.

The resolution means the council will sign up to the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network to share good practice, and will continue to work with partner organisations and community groups to ensure the City of Sanctuary principles are embedded across the county.