Today the Government will set out their New Plan for Immigration, which is expected to make significant changes to our asylum system in the UK.

Responding to the plans, Thomas Martin, Director of City of Sanctuary Sheffield, said:

“There is nothing to celebrate in this New Immigration Plan.  It is a deliberately divisive policy that will only serve to perpetuate the myth that there are ‘good refugees’ who do the right thing and ‘bad refugees’ who don’t, when in truth, all are doing whatever they can to flee war, poverty and persecution.

The proposed reforms seem to be in opposition to Article 31 of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and will do nothing to prevent dangerous Channel crossings, whilst making the lives of many who have fled war and persecution a misery.

As this government continues to propose policies that have already been proven to fail and cause suffering to so many we, at City of Sanctuary Sheffield, will keep working in solidarity with those seeking sanctuary to uphold their rights and fight for a country that is truly a place of safety for those who seek it.”