Expanding Sanctuary: The City of Sanctuary Movement in London

Abstract

The City of Sanctuary (CoS) in the United Kingdom aims to create a culture of welcome for asylum seekers and refugees. This is a politically limited approach because it overlooks the effects of other hostile immigration policies. The emergence of the sanctuary movement as ‘Boroughs of Sanctuary’ (BoS) in London brings these shortcomings into sharp focus, as many residents have other precarious immigration statuses. This article examines the extent to which the Lewisham and Southwark BoS initiatives have successfully negotiated and reconfigured sanctuary at a local level to address this urban complexity. In doing so, it engages with different actors, institutions and factions involved in building sanctuary. While the CoS’ exclusionary politics of asylum is still being reproduced in many ways, people with precarious immigration status are co-opting and reconfiguring the sanctuary framework in ways that expand the asylum-oriented focus of the movement and address the broader violence of the hostile environment.