https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6241-4178
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ABSTRACT
This article explores sanctuary policies and practices from a regional perspective. Following a declaration by the Welsh government in 2019, Wales became the first and only European region to explicitly connect to the wider sanctuary movement, with the stated intention of becoming a true ‘Nation of Sanctuary' (NoS) (Welsh Government. 2019. “Nation of Sanctuary: Refugee and Asylum Seeker Plan.” Cardiff: Welsh Government). We argue that the Welsh government’s approach to sanctuary is richly symbolic and is used strategically to compensate for the lack of formal legislative competencies in the field of immigration, and to position itself in opposition to the UK government. The article highlights the potential of symbolic policies to underpin a regional form of sanctuary, along with their limitations. We show that regions can use symbolic policies to overcome their lack of legislative competency in asylum policies and argue that symbolic policies allow regional governments to position themselves as allies to those supporting refugees and asylum seekers, and as an opponent of the state. In addition, we illustrate how a regional government's symbolic commitment facilitates concerted action on the part of relevant actors within the region. However, we also highlight the fragility and inconsistency of symbolic sanctuary.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to all those who made themselves available for interview, Ilaria Signori and Katherine Arena for their invaluable transcription assistance, along with Tiziana Caponio, Andrea Pettrachin, Aiden Selsick and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. The authors thank the Research, Innovation and Universiy Department of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the open access publication costs.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Serrano et al. (Citation2018) are the exception; they study two higher education institutions in California that distributed campus-wide emails addressing the vulnerabilities of immigrant students with a precarious legal status. They interpret this as a ‘symbolic gesture’ that creates a notion of ‘campus as sanctuary’ rather than committing to ‘sanctuary campus’ policies and practices.
2 For a list of interviewees and written responses to the ELGCC's 2016 consultation on refugees and asylum seekers, see the Appendix.
3 The Plan commits to pursuing ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ status by reducing inequalities among people seeking sanctuary, increasing access to opportunities, and improving relations between sanctuary-seeking communities and wider society (Welsh Government Citation2019a, 2). Key priority areas include: access to health services (including mental health services) throughout the ‘asylum journey’; provision of information and advice to facilitate the integration of sanctuary seekers into Welsh society from day one; access to appropriate Welsh government schemes which would support their integration; preventing destitution; safeguarding all sanctuary seekers (particularly unaccompanied asylum-seeking children) and their access to advocacy support; access to educational opportunities, including language skills, to help them rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential (Welsh Government Citation2019a).
4 The 2014 Immigration Act was passed under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. For more on the changes to immigration and asylum implemented by the Coalition between 2010 and 2015, see: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05829/ (Immigration Act Citation2014).
5 The Immigration Act 2014 stipulates that these provisions apply to the whole of the UK, but thus far they have only come into force in England.
6 The High Court of Justice ruled the scheme to be incompatible with human rights on 1 March 2019, which initially resulted in the policy not being extended to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, but the decision was appealed. The Court of Appeal ruled that the Right to Rent scheme is not incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights https://www.wrigleys.co.uk/news/property/are-right-to-rent-checks-a-breach-of-human-rights-/?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=LinkedIn-integration.
7 The outsourcing of asylum to centralised private providers further limited the power of local authorities (Chick and Hannagan-Lewis Citation2019).
8 An exception to the devolution of housing policy is asylum accommodation, which resides with the UK Government's Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Office).
9 The 2016 Welsh election led to the presence of seven UKIP members in the Senedd, which changed its political make-up anew (Interview 1).
10 Wales’ electoral system is that of a Additional Member System (AMS). Seven members of UKIP were elected to the Senedd in the 2016 elections through the regional lists vote rather than to a constituency seat.
11 For a detailed analysis on the emergence of the City of Sanctuary movement in Swansea, see Bernhardt (Citation2020:, 112–135).
12 Established in 2015, the Welsh Refugee Coalition now comprises of over 50 organisations representing, supporting and housing refugees and asylum seekers in Wales, including all the major Welsh refugee NGOs and others working in Wales with sanctuary seekers. Members of the WRC collaborate in the interests of asylum seekers and refugees to maximise their resources and to speak with one voice on policies and practices affecting people seeking safety in Wales. In 2020, the WRC produced its Manifesto Priorities (WRC Citation2020). The WRC was the result of increased collaboration between various third sector organisations ahead of the Senedd election in 2016, the Syrian conflict and the subsequent media coverage and outpouring of empathy (Interview 2).
13 More specifically, in their 2016 Welsh Senedd election manifesto, Plaid Cymru committed to ‘seek to make Wales a Nation of Sanctuary for those fleeing war or persecution with a basic level of support provided to help refugees and asylum seekers integrate into Welsh society’ (Plaid Cymru Citation2016, 163). The Welsh Liberal Democrats promised to: ‘Establish Wales as a Nation of Sanctuary, an open and welcoming place for those in need, and support cities establishing themselves as Cities of Sanctuary’ (Citation2016, 97). The Welsh Conservatives stated that they would ‘Use devolved levers to support, and aid the integration of, asylum seekers and refugees seeking sanctuary’ (Welsh Conservatives Citation2016, 42). The Wales Green Party promised to: ‘Work with local authorities to house refugees, provide support services for those in need, and ensure they are welcomed into our communities’ (Citation2016, no page number). Despite endorsing and committing to the NoS concept, no references were made to sanctuary, refugees or asylum seekers in the 2016 Welsh Labour Party manifesto.
14 In 2015, the first Sanctuary in the Senedd event was held with the aim of encouraging discussion amongst refugees and asylum seekers, allies, organisations and Senedd Members about making Wales the world's first NoS.
15 In January 2021, the First Minister of Wales called on the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) to undertake an inspection ‘to provide much-needed confidence in the standards in place in the camp’. A report published by the ICIBI and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) following an in-person inspection of Penally and another barracks in February 2021 revealed them to be ‘inadequate’ and ‘unsuitable’, with ‘serious safeguarding concerns’, along with self-harm and mental health issues, and problems how these were handled. The Welsh government shared these concerns. The report concluded that ‘There were fundamental failures of leadership and planning by the Home Office, which had led to dangerous shortcomings in the nature of the accommodation and poor experiences for the residents’ (ICIB Citation2021, 15). Medical professionals also called on the then Home Secretary to close the two military barracks claiming that that both sites were unsuitable due to the lack of access to healthcare services and risks from a lack of compliance with Covid-19 regulations. The group also voiced their concerns about the risks of trauma for those in the barracks, who may have been detained in similar environments in their home countries.
16 ‘Leave to remain’ is the permission granted to non-UK nationals to enter and stay in the UK for a limited period of time.
17 This currently includes: treatment given in an accident and emergency department or casualty department; family planning services (excluding abortion and infertility treatment); treatment for certain diseases necessary to protect wider public health, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and COVID-19; treatment given to people detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983; treatment given for mental health problems as part of a court probation order (Welsh Government Citation2021c).
18 According to the NRPF Network (Citation2021), ‘A person will have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) when they are ‘subject to immigration control’, as defined by Section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. A person who is subject to immigration control cannot claim public funds (benefits and housing assistance) unless an exception applies. A person will be subject to immigration control when they have one of the following types of immigration status: Leave to enter or remain in the UK, which is subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition; Leave to enter or remain in the UK that is subject to a maintenance undertaking; No leave to enter or remain when they are required to have this. When a person has leave to enter or remain subject to the NRPF condition, the term ‘no public funds’ will be stated on their residence permit, entry clearance vignette, or biometric residence permit (BRP)’. See here: https://www.nrpfnetwork.org.uk/
19 In 2020, the Welsh government (Welsh Government Citation2020) commissioned research to better understand the local/regional labour market skill gaps and opportunities for refugees to increase their employment prospects within Wales.
20 The Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 also lowered the minimum voting age for Senedd elections from 18 to 16 and included qualifying foreign nationals. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 also extended the franchise to qualifying foreign nationals for local government elections. Electors of any nationality are now eligible to register to vote in Senedd elections and local government elections, providing they meet the age and residency requirements and that they are not legally incapable of voting. A qualifying foreign national is defined as a person who is neither a Commonwealth citizen, nor a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, and who has or does not require leave to remain or is treated as having leave to enter or remain in the UK (Electoral Commission Citation2021). Irish and Commonwealth citizens are not included as ‘qualifying foreign nationals’ as they already have voting rights under other regulations.
21 The central UK government has responsibility for setting the criteria for the UK parliamentary franchise and the local government franchise in England and Northern Ireland. The Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament are responsible for setting the criteria for the local government franchise in their respective regions.