Bristol City Council has approved its refreshed Refugee & Asylum Seeker Inclusion Strategy at a Cabinet on Tues 3rd March.
Recommending the strategy to Cabinet, Deputy Mayor Asher Craig says the strategy’s purpose is to ensure that the City Council fully inhabits its role in leading a City of Sanctuary, by systematically and strategically considering how it can support refugee and asylum seeker inclusion across all its service areas and activities. It also provides a platform for increasing strategic coherence across the corporate body on refugee and asylum seeker issues.
The strategy also establishes a cross-departmental working group to share expertise and best practice from every service area of the Council. Bristol was recognised as a City of Sanctuary in 2010.
In support of the recommendation the Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees says the strategy will help ‘us to be proactive and vigilant in making this status real and tangible for asylum seekers and refugees in our city.’
Councillors present in the Cabinet welcomed the strategy and spoke passionately about refugees. You can listen from the contributions here. And a full copy of the strategy can be accessed here.