Sanctuary in Parliament 2018
“Towards a Fairer System”
12.00 – 16:00
Monday 12th November in Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
Cross-party MP and refugee panel 12:30 to 1:30
Bookings are now open for the next Sanctuary in Parliament event which will be on Monday 12th November from 12 to 4pm in the Attlee Suite at Portcullis House, Westminster.
Our overarching theme this year is for a fairer more compassionate system for people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
We have sought feedback from our groups across the network and as a result of this we are planning a slightly different format this year. We aim to have a one hour focused session involving a panel of cross party MPs and refugee speakers followed by a question-and-answer session from the floor. This will be followed by refreshments and opportunities for further discussions between ourselves and lobbying MPs in small groups. 
We will be specifically focusing on the following issues, which are all key to producing a fair and humane system and will be areas of scrutiny around the upcoming Immigration Bill:
- The right to work for people who have asylum claims outstanding for more than six months;
- Extension of refugee family reunion;
- An end to indefinite immigration detention;
Please see this background paper Sanctuary in Parliament 2018 which describes our rationale and the key messages which we wish to convey through the upcoming Sanctuary in Parliament event.
We will be relying on the network and our partners to invite their MPs to attend and to continue an ongoing dialogue with their MPs about these issues. We will be providing briefing documents on each of these specific asks and will make them available on the website for City of Sanctuary supporters and other partners to provide background information and in order to send to their MPs. The more letters regarding these topics and the more invitations that MPs receive to the event, the more likely we will receive a positive response and so we are encouraging all our supporters to contact their MPs, and engage them in the issues, whether or not they are able to attend the event.
Indeed, there is still an important role for all groups to engage with their MPs on these strategic priorities over the coming months by arranging to meet their MP in the constituency if they are unable to meet them at the Sanctuary in Parliament event. We will be producing short policy briefings for each of our priority asks and make them available here.
Here is a Template invitation letter to MPs to support you to write to your MP. It is a suggestion only and the more personalised and individual your invitation is, the more effective it will be in securing MP commitment to attend. We also welcome the extension of invitations to Peers in the House of Lords.
As before, places will be limited and there will be a two-stage booking process. Please don’t let this put you off applying for a place. Please also ensure that you have invited your MP before booking your place. We will prioritise places for the following:
- Sanctuary seekers
- Constituents who have secured a definite commitment from their MP to attend
- Members of City of Sanctuary groups who have not attended a Sanctuary in Parliament event before
To book your place:
1. Email sipbookings@
2. You will be sent a link to an application form. Please complete this and we will let you know if your places are reserved or if we have added you to the waiting list.
You can apply for up to five delegates from your group.
You can apply for travel expenses to attend Sanctuary in Parliament 2018 here