By Nikki Walters, Chair, Southampton Action.
This month marks 75 years since the United Nations adopted the Refugee Convention – a promise that people forced to flee war, persecution and violence would be offered protection, dignity and hope. Seventy-five years later, that promise is as important as ever.
Southampton has a long history of keeping that promise. For centuries, people have found refuge here – from the Huguenots and the Basque children to families from Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong. Since 2001, Southampton has also been an asylum dispersal city, despite claims from some that this is something new.
Whether Southampton has been your home for your whole life, for five years or for five minutes, you belong here. You are part of our community. This city is your home too.
Sanctuary is about so much more than providing a roof over someone’s head. It is about finding safety. It is about rebuilding your life after losing almost everything. It is about making your first friend, finding your first home, getting your first job, watching your children settle into school and, perhaps for the first time in a long time, beginning to imagine a future again.
At a time when political decisions too often make life harder for people seeking safety, we hear language that divides instead of welcomes and policies that create barriers instead of opportunities. Yet despite those challenges, the people seeking sanctuary in Southampton continue to show extraordinary courage.
They attend English classes. They volunteer. They interpret for one another. They support new arrivals. They build friendships, communities and businesses. They raise families. They contribute every single day.
Because this is their city too.
Through my work with Southampton Action, I have had the privilege of meeting people from every corner of the world. I have been invited to share incredible food from cultures across the globe. I have watched people arrive in Southampton with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing, and I have watched them rebuild their lives – finding jobs, creating homes, making lifelong friendships and daring to dream about the future again.
Again and again, I have been inspired by resilience, generosity and determination.
None of this happens in isolation. It happens because communities come together. Because volunteers give their time. Because teachers run English classes. Because people donate clothes. Because faith groups open their doors. Because people choose kindness over fear.
Last year, a small number of people stood outside a local asylum hotel claiming to speak for Southampton and saying that people seeking sanctuary were not welcome.
They do not speak for this city.
The Southampton I know is one where compassion is stronger than fear, where kindness is louder than hatred, and where everyone deserves the chance to live in safety and dignity.
In 2017, Southampton City Council unanimously voted to support Southampton as a City of Sanctuary. As we approach the tenth anniversary of that commitment in 2027, I hope the Council will complete the work needed for Southampton to become a formally accredited City of Sanctuary. To be clear, we are not currently accredited.
Achieving that status requires more than a statement of intent; it requires demonstrating that welcome is embedded across the city’s policies, services and partnerships. It is a chance to turn a promise into lasting action.
A council that can demonstrate that it truly welcomes people seeking sanctuary is a better council for everyone. It is a council that reflects the values of compassion, inclusion and community that make Southampton the city we know it can be.
A city is not defined by the people who shout the loudest.
It is defined by the people who show up for one another.
That is the Southampton I saw at the Refugee Unity March last weekend. It is the Southampton I see every day through the volunteers, charities, faith groups, schools and neighbours who quietly choose kindness over fear.
As we look towards the tenth anniversary of Southampton’s commitment to becoming a City of Sanctuary next year, I hope we are celebrating not just a promise that was made, but a promise that was kept.
Southampton has always been a city of welcome. I believe it still is. And I hope it always will be.
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