The DUP has rejected a city refugee proposal over “serious concerns” the public has not been consulted amid an “immigration crisis”.
Several hundred people attended a Newry protest earlier this month opposing the local authority’s move towards becoming a City of Sanctuary. There was also a counter protest.
However, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) approved joining the network on Monday night (Sept 15) by a majority vote at its active and healthy communities committee, with the SDLP warning against “fearmongering”.
Rowallane DUP councillor Jonathan Jackson said: “I want to know where is the equality impact assessment published in this report?
“If these do not exist I would caution against proceeding tonight with this report. Can we see the equality impact assessment results?
“On behalf of myself and the rest of the DUP group on NMDDC, we just feel that the move towards becoming a council of sanctuary should not be on the agenda.
“The council’s existing policy is more than sufficient to cover these matters.”
He added: “A move to being a City of Sanctuary could empower outside bodies that aren’t elected by the people to dictate policy within this council.
“We are in the middle of an immigration crisis and those parties who wish to ignore that or stay silent are simply not living in reality.
“Public services are already at breaking point…I don’t believe there is support among our ratepayers in NMDDC for a council sanctuary and they have genuine concerns about the impact of illegal and uncontrolled immigration in their local communities.
“There are other councils in the UK that have scrapped plans for membership of this movement after they sought community feedback and I just think people really have had enough of this kind of nonsense.”
A council officer responded: “At this point in time as we are only joining the network…we have carried out an initial equality screening exercise and we will continue to monitor our equality obligations and that will include the need for public consultation.”
The City of Sanctuary proposal involves generating a network including schools, health and local authorities to offer support for ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland.
This would see the local authority join a network of communities and organisations to become places of safety and inclusion for refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants.
Newry SDLP councillor, Doire Finn said: “This move to become a Council of Sanctuary is not about immigration powers, which are solely the responsibility of the UK Home Office, nor is it about encouraging people to come to the district. What it is about is making sure that those who have been legally placed here, including a very small number of people seeking asylum, are treated with fairness and compassion, and are supported to participate fully in community life.
“Our decision to support the City of Sanctuary initiative also acts as a counter to the rising wave of misinformation and online fearmongering that has targeted minority communities. We believe the best antidote to division is the truth, and the truth is, our public services are under pressure not because of new communities, but because of years of political failure at Stormont.
“Let’s be clear, the crisis in housing, education, and healthcare is not caused by migrants, asylum seekers or any minority group. It is the result of five years of a collapsed Executive, chronic underfunding, and a lack of serious leadership from the departments that actually have the power to change things.”
A vote of 12 for and two against approved the proposal.
