We call on Sheffield City Council to hold a full debate on migrant and asylum seeker rights at its next full Council Meeting.
Specifically, we urge that the City Council maximises the effective use of their powers and influence to defend the right to seek safety from war and persecution by:

• Signing the national ‘Fight the Anti Refugee Laws’ pledge
• Calling on the UK Government to withdraw from the UK-Rwanda agreement, repeal the Nationality and Borders Act and work with Local Authorities and communities to
  build a refugee protection system that treats people with dignity and compassion
•  Working closely with local and regional migrant and asylum rights organisations to
  mitigate the effects of the current ‘hostile environment’ for refugees.
• Appointing a Migrant Champion for the city to co-ordinate and lead the above work.

Sheffield has a proud history of welcoming people seeking safety from war and persecution, including being the first City of Sanctuary in the UK. Nationally, there is a significant backlog of cases awaiting asylum decisions, which means these people cannot work or access legal aid and are effectively denied access to public services.

The Nationality and Borders Act does not address these issues, instead creating a two tier system, which punishes people seeking safety based on the journeys they make and threatens them with detention, followed by return to the countries they have fled from or removal to Rwanda or other ‘partner’ countries.

In Sheffield, 7 local charities and faith groups have signed the national pledge to ‘Fight the Anti Refugee Laws’. At least 8 local authorities in the UK have now signed this pledge and have appointed a Councillor to act as Migrant Champion with responsibility for leading discussion and action in relation to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Sheffield City Council has not yet taken these actions.