Juliet Henderson
Offering sanctuary is an ancient practice probably dating back to the beginning of our species. More recently in England, from the 12th to the 16th century, sanctuary was a legal procedure recognised by both canon and secular law ensuring that once fugitives and felons had crossed the threshold of a churchyard the community was obliged to feed them and keep them safe for up to 40 days. As well as allowing time for negotiations for legal alternatives to their crimes and allowing those who confessed to their crimes to go into exile rather than be punished, it also marked churches as having a sacred duty to protect the vulnerable. This has continued into the 21st century, particularly in times of civil unrest in the US. Sanctuary for felons in England, however, was outlawed by James 1 in 1632.
From a more specifically Quaker historical perspective, when the Religious Society of Friends came into being in the 17th century, many Quakers had to seek sanctuary from persecution in England and the American colonies. Both George Fox and William Penn had repeated experiences of imprisonment and persecution. In the case of Penn, this led to his founding the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, built on Quaker values and testimonies and providing sanctuary to religious dissidents and other persecuted peoples.
Today, as Quakers in Britain, we work in different ways to welcome and offer sanctuary to those escaping the effects of war, climate change, economic exploitation, and inequality – so often the result of Western politics and colonialist policies. The Quaker Sanctuary Everywhere movement began in 2017 after the production of the Sanctuary Everywhere Manifesto at Meeting for Sufferings. More locally, Oxford has been part of the City of Sanctuary UK movement since 2008 and has many organisations, asylum seekers, and refugees. These include Asylum Welcome, Refugee Resource, and Sanctuary Hosting. The idea for Sanctuary Hosting came at the Refugees Welcome demonstration in Oxford in July 2015 where many, including members of Oxford Meeting, volunteered to open up their home to a vulnerable migrant, refugee, or asylum seeker.
Sanctuary Hosting currently urgently needs more people in Oxford, where most of the refugees wish to be located, to host refugee guests. In this context, to encourage more to host, four Friends from Oxford Meeting – Karima Brooke, Steve Brooke, Anne Watson, and David Jeffery – kindly agreed to share some of their own experiences in short interviews, guided by the three questions below. Some of their responses are included as close to live voice as possible.
(1) Can you explain how the promptings to host refugees moved from first calling to reality?
‘It’s hard to identify first promptings, I’ve always had a spare room open to others who needed it.’
‘We were among those who put our names forward at the Refugees Welcome rally outside the Sheldonian 6 years ago.’
‘Do you remember all those photos of little boats trying to cross the channel in 2015? We’ve always been involved in working with refugees and the homeless, and at the rally in 2015 put our names forward.’
‘Since the Huguenots, and earlier, the UK has always taken in refugees. It just struck me that if the government was criminalising and stopping them, it was we ‘ordinary people’ who had to help.’
‘We have the benefit of a free house from the university linked to my work. Wanted to share that benefit with others less fortunate than ourselves while here.’
‘We first heard about Sanctuary Hosting through a Sunday meeting, and the idea was present with us over many Sundays. The move to action may have been finally having enough space to host. We were also frustrated when the UK slashed its budget for international development – the UK is responsible for so much political instability globally, and we think there is an obligation to take responsibility for this.’
(2) What uncertainties or difficulties did you experience?
‘No uncertainties but then we could choose how long we wanted people to stay and take a rest at times. We have a spare bathroom and bedroom which helped both sides have some independence.’
‘We worried about upsetting our guest with questions about what brought them here or not being able to give them the support needed. Sanctuary Hosting though doesn’t expect hosts to help people with the legal process.’
‘A newly married couple from Eritrea were our first guests. He had been here for a fairly long time and acquired refugee status. She had just arrived via Sudan. She was unfamiliar with our kitchen appliances and did not want to listen to our guidance. She just switched the microwave on and off at the plug, which meant we had to re-programme it every time. Or she pressed all the buttons on the washing machine at the same time, which triggered the child lock. In the end, we stuck tape all over the sockets. It was funny really.’
‘You get to meet each other before they move in. It can feel like a slightly unequal situation. They are generally more worried and scared since they have never lived in a white person’s house, or a place which does not belong to a relative.’
‘There were all the usual uncertainties about having a stranger in your house. Would it be safe? Would you get along? Would there be serious misunderstandings? But Sanctuary Hosting took us through an initial training, and we were reassured to know that both we and the guest were assigned a support worker as a matter of course.’
(3) What stories do you have about your guests and what you have learned from them?
‘Learnt so much about how cruel the immigration system is. Particularly for unaccompanied minors who get kicked out when they become adults. Terrible.’
‘Learning about yourself while learning about others.’
‘We have learnt the need for guests to rely on digital devices to contact everything they need: solicitors, health, food parcels, family, other people from their language community.’
‘The extent of human resilience and the kindness of those in desperate circumstances. Learnt tolerance. An Iranian convert to Christianity challenged my way of thinking. But seeing the sacrifices he made for his faith and the support he received from his church changed my perspectives.’
‘The Eritrean couple stayed in touch and sent photos of their baby when they were dispersed (relocated) to North of England. You get a sense you’re a small part of their story.’
‘We can offer them the stability they need at times of upheaval.’
‘We have been hosts to three or four people who are very well-used to living a fully gadgetted modern life so, while we have had people who needed to be inducted into kitchen and bathroom appliances etc. etc, this only applies to about half our guests. Illiteracy has also been an issue with some guests.’
‘Some of our guests have tried to persuade us to eat breakfasts that they have cooked for us – piles of spiced vegetables with masses of onions etc. etc. We tried, we really tried.’
‘We have hosted only one guest so far, and he was wonderful. I personally had a lot of my own misconceptions about asylum seekers and their homes challenged. We have a built a friendship, and while I don’t expect we will have this of every guest, it is still a blessing.’
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 511 • November 2021
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW