Agenda item

We the undersigned petition the council to 1) commit to extending the current Council refugee resettlement program to receive an additional 125 refugees or asylum seekers from abroad. 2) communicate to relevant agencies and departments in the UK Government, and through public statements, Cambridge City Council's willingness to welcome and support more refugees in Cambridge, especially, but not exclusively, refugees on the Greek islands who are stuck in unsafe and inhumane camps as well as through the UK Resettlement Scheme. 3) invite district councils within Cambridgeshire to join and collaborate with Cambridge City Council to commit to accept additional resettled refugees within their districts, as previously demonstrated by South Cambridgeshire District Council in 2019. 4) where possible, make council housing available to people resettled through this scheme. 5) commit to working with local agencies, residents, landlords and charities to resolve any barriers to resettlement or support.

Justification:

As a city, we continue to express solidarity and compassion for refugees around the world. We want our City Council to continue to live up to their previous commitment to be a 'city of sanctuary' by inviting and welcoming more refugees to share our diverse city with us.

The current scheme has successfully resettled around 125 refugees over 5 years to Cambridge from various countries and nationalities. The resettlement scheme has allowed us to welcome some of the most vulnerable of the millions of refugees worldwide. However, this cannot be a one-time solution: we must continue to show that Cambridge welcomes refugees.

We are particularly appalled by the treatment and experiences of an estimated 27,000 refugees trapped in camps on the Aegean Islands in Greece, as highlighted by the Europe Must Act campaign. Refugees in these camps face inadequate sanitary conditions, minimal running water and cramped living conditions. This is especially acute in light of the current pandemic: it is impossible to isolate, social distance and even wash your hands frequently in the camps. There are already 35 cases of Covid-19 amongst the Moria population.

The devastating fire in Moria which raged between 7th-9th September has given this situation new urgency. All have lost their homes; many have lost their life possessions. 40% of the affected people are children. The 35 known Covid-19 cases are now dispersed amongst the 13,000 people sleeping on the street.

The fire was a direct result of the conditions in the camp which Europe has consistently ignored for four years. The UK was instrumental in forming the policies which created these camps.

Therefore, although neither the EU nor the UK Government has committed to a process for local authorities to accept refugees evacuated from the camps, we would like Cambridge City Council to make clear it's wish for the UK to participate in such a process and the City Council’s willingness to receive refugees from the camps in Greece, in addition to refugees resettled from other places. The mayor and city council of Berlin have already committed to receive 15,000 people in this manner.

We would like to express great pride in the work done by the City Council and local charities and residents in resettling, welcoming and supporting refugees in Cambridge and ask that you keep going and don't let us down now.

A petition had been received containing over 500 signatures stating the following:

 

We the undersigned petition the council to 1) commit to extending the current Council refugee resettlement program to receive an additional 125 refugees or asylum seekers from abroad. 2) communicate to relevant agencies and departments in the UK Government, and through public statements, Cambridge City Council's willingness to welcome and support more refugees in Cambridge, especially, but not exclusively, refugees on the Greek islands who are stuck in unsafe and inhumane camps as well as through the UK Resettlement Scheme. 3) invite district councils within Cambridgeshire to join and collaborate with Cambridge City Council to commit to accept additional resettled refugees within their districts, as previously demonstrated by South Cambridgeshire District Council in 2019. 4) where possible, make council housing available to people resettled through this scheme. 5) commit to working with local agencies, residents, landlords and charities to resolve any barriers to resettlement or support.

 

Justification:

 

As a city, we continue to express solidarity and compassion for refugees around the world. We want our City Council to continue to live up to their previous commitment to be a 'city of sanctuary' by inviting and welcoming more refugees to share our diverse city with us.

 

The current scheme has successfully resettled around 125 refugees over 5 years to Cambridge from various countries and nationalities. The resettlement scheme has allowed us to welcome some of the most vulnerable of the millions of refugees worldwide. However, this cannot be a one-time solution: we must continue to show that Cambridge welcomes refugees.

 

We are particularly appalled by the treatment and experiences of an estimated 27,000 refugees trapped in camps on the Aegean Islands in Greece, as highlighted by the Europe Must Act campaign. Refugees in these camps face inadequate sanitary conditions, minimal running water and cramped living conditions. This is especially acute in light of the current pandemic: it is impossible to isolate, social distance and even wash your hands frequently in the camps. There are already 35 cases of Covid-19 amongst the Moria population.

 

The devastating fire in Moria which raged between 7th-9th September has given this situation new urgency. All have lost their homes; many have lost their life possessions. 40% of the affected people are children. The 35 known Covid-19 cases are now dispersed amongst the 13,000 people sleeping on the street.

 

The fire was a direct result of the conditions in the camp which Europe has consistently ignored for four years. The UK was instrumental in forming the policies which created these camps.

 

Therefore, although neither the EU nor the UK Government has committed to a process for local authorities to accept refugees evacuated from the camps, we would like Cambridge City Council to make clear it's wish for the UK to participate in such a process and the City Council’s willingness to receive refugees from the camps in Greece, in addition to refugees resettled from other places. The mayor and city council of Berlin have already committed to receive 15,000 people in this manner.

 

We would like to express great pride in the work done by the City Council and local charities and residents in resettling, welcoming and supporting refugees in Cambridge and ask that you keep going and don't let us down now.

 

Adrian Matthews, Trustee of Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign, presented and spoke in support of the petition and made the following points:

i.               Noted a Cambridge Labour Party press release, which stated an aspiration to resettle 200 refugees over a five year period, which was a higher number than the petition called for. Acknowledged that members of all parties had shown a real commitment to this matter, and urged cross party unity to continue around the issue. Resettlement was only one part of the petition.

ii.             The infrastructure to support the new resettlement was important and urged the council to meet with interested parties, including those providing services, to ensure it was a successful operation.

 

iii.            Asked councillors to consider the status of asylum seekers currently located on the Aegean islands, who are unable to undergo any asylum process. Stated that Europe was not meeting requirements under international law and that Cambridge could help.  The numbers of asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation were low in the Eastern region compared to other areas of the country, with none in Cambridge itself. Asked the council to send a public statement to central government to request a relocation scheme for asylum seekers on the Aegean islands be set up, and express Cambridge’s interest in accepting them.

iv.           Asked the council to approve procurement of accommodation for asylum seekers from private landlords in Cambridge, on a similar scale to other towns in the region and said this would be an act of solidarity with both asylum seekers and other local authorities.

v.             Asked the council to begin talks with the Strategic Migration Partnership in the East of England

vi.           Commented that Cambridge residents were largely in favour of more help being provided in the city.

 

Councillors debated the issues raised for the allocated 15 minutes.

 

The Executive Councillor for Transport and Community Safety made the following comments in response to the debate:

i.               Thanked the Petitioner for bringing the petition.

ii.             Noted that Cambridge City Council had always been a City of Sanctuary.

iii.            The Council was always reviewing its ability to be able to accept more refugees in the city.  The inability to be able to confirm the exact number of people who could be helped was unfortunately held up by confidential discussions with the Home Office in what the Government calls ‘becoming an area of dispersal’, which could have impacted on the Council’s ability to commit to house high numbers of refugees.

iv.           The Government had concluded that the cost of accommodation in Cambridge was too high for Cambridge to be a ‘dispersal area’ location. This was because the cost of accommodation for asylum seekers was met by the Home Office.

v.             Other cities involved in dispersal areas for asylum seekers are not in high value housing market areas.

vi.           The Council would continue to have discussions with the Home Office as appropriate but highlighted why the Home Office did not consider Cambridge to be an appropriate location for a dispersal area.

vii.          The Council had reviewed its ability to be able to provide accommodation directly to refugees and also the success of the work which has been done with South Cambridgeshire District Council. The Council was now in a position to be able to help even more refugees with help from neighbouring districts. 

viii.        The Council committed to a joint wider programme, which depended on contributions that would be requested from neighbouring authorities East Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire District Councils to contribute towards housing in their area, so that the overall target could be raised to 200 additional refugees in the 5 years after the programme restarted.

ix.           The Council had worked closely with a number of partners including Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign, faith groups, volunteer groups and South Cambridgeshire District Council in offering homes to refugees in the city and the surrounding area.

x.             It was clear, the Council hadn’t been successful by acting alone.

xi.           The Council would need to rely on the generosity of neighbouring local authorities, housing associations and the city’s community and voluntary sector to set any new ambitious target.

xii.          This would also be dependent on the Home Office reopening the resettlement scheme as this was the only way that refuges could lawfully be resettled.

xiii.        Once the scheme re-opened, the Council aimed to resettle a further 200 refugees working with South Cambridgeshire District Council to meet the petitioners request to resettle an additional 125 refugees.

xiv.        When the Council resettled refugees, the Council made sure that refugees had access to good housing and services including doctors, dentist, bank account, benefits, schools places and advised what help was available from voluntary groups.