Dear friends,

We all know that people fleeing Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria and more should be welcomed. But instead, this Government wants to criminalise, detain and deport people seeking sanctuary.

The House of Lords has rejected these plans – now MPs must do the same.

There is less than a week left to go before the cruel Nationality and Borders Bill returns to the House of Commons and MPs vote on if these appalling policies will become law.

We must fight it to the very end.

Join us on March 21st to show your heart for refugees. For more information and ideas, including suggested tweets, see here.

If you take one thing from this email: call on your MP to be on the side of humanity, not hostility.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme
For 15+ years we’ve been building a movement of welcome across the UK for people seeking sanctuary.

The announcement of the Homes for Ukraine scheme brings with it as of yet unanswered questions and some serious concerns, but it also represents an opportunity to fast-track our vision of a truly welcoming UK.

We will work with partners to support the scheme where we can, whilst harnessing this moment to further build mainstream support for ALL people seeking sanctuary.
We state in the strongest terms that if a hosting scheme is in place, then it must be open to ALL refugees.

Read our full statement here.

We also encourage you to keep an eye on our events page, we have several upcoming opportunities to learn about practical ways to support refugees.

In solidarity,
Siân, City of Sanctuary UK Chief Officer

P.S. Our networks are stepping up to ensure that more people fleeing war and persecution get the support they need in the UK – but we urgently need your help to scale up our work. If you can, please chip in to our emergency fundrasier here.