In the cold sunshine of a February afternoon The Stade Open Space is filled with the beautiful sound of Ukrainian songs as we stand together with those who came to Hastings to seek safety from the war in Ukraine a year ago. In my hand is a placard made by one of the Ukrainian children, it calls for peace. These women and children are now part of our town’s community and history. They have been welcomed and supported by the people of Hastings, but they have also shared with the town their own culture, their spirit, and faith that the war will end.
I don’t doubt that their being here enriches our town and that is also so often true of other refugees who come here and share with us their stories, culture, food, and lives.
Hastings as a Community of Sanctuary goes above and beyond to welcome those seeking refuge.
As the war in Syria forced people to flee, Hastings Borough Council was asked to help and has now welcomed around 100 Syrian refugees, more than many other towns in the South East.
When small boats land on our beaches locals will rush to the shore with blankets, dry clothes, and food so that those who have made a desperate journey across the channel see friendly faces and acts of kindness before they are whisked off to prison-like processing centres.
The Home Office recently chose to take over a hotel for refugee accommodation here, as they do in towns all over the country, but the reaction in Hastings was different to the reaction in some other towns.
We didn’t see protests or hear fearmongering; instead, when local people heard that many of the people there only had the clothes they stood up in and were both cold and hungry it didn’t take long for help to be provided and then ongoing support to be co-ordinated by The Refugee Buddy Project, Hastings Supports Refugees and businesses across the town.
Hastings people know how to show that we care.
It was through this care and community action that unaccompanied children were identified and rescued from the hotel, making sure they are now safe and haven’t become just another news headline of more missing refugee children lost to a system that doesn’t see them as children or even people just numbers.
But sometimes numbers are important. 40,000 is the number of children The Refugee Council estimates could be locked up or forced into destitution by the Governments proposed Illegal Migration Bill if it becomes law. This bill must be stopped and we must raise our voices against it.
Every one of those children is a child that should be given the chance of sanctuary.
Hastings should be allowed to carry on caring and offering sanctuary too, wherever the people of the town feel they can, so that we can all stand together in the sunshine in the name of peace, just as we did in February, and remember that we are one Hastings, many voices.