24 September 2026
The New Role of Lord Mayor, with Jason Fazackarley
Jason Fazackarley
In many parts of the world, geopolitics has caused people to be uprooted from their homes as they flee for safety. The issue of asylum seekers regularly gets politicised but for each individual who has lost everything, the reality will be a unique, moving story. In this talk you’ll learn about such harsh realities of life for individuals who have found themselves in Chichester; and how Sanctuary provides social and pastoral support, helping people – including unaccompanied children – to avoid destitution while going through the laborious asylum process.
Refugees and asylum seekers are regularly politicised but, for each individual who has lost everything, the reality is a unique story of loss and trauma. In these moving talks, you’ll learn about such harsh realities for individuals who have found themselves in Chichester – the stories of how they ended up here, and the day-to-day experience of adjusting to a new country and trying to integrate, while going through the laborious asylum process.
Tonight is not one talk but four shorter ones. Each speaker is a refugee or asylum-seeker who will tell their own tale. Yalda, a feminist activist from Afghanistan, was forced into hiding and then to leave her country due to her high profile work and for simply being a woman. Mahmood took the difficult decision to escape Pakistan with his young family, due to persecution and threats of violence for being Ahmadiyya Muslims, a religious minority. Hiba fled Sudan having worked at the British Embassy after being targeted for being vocal against the authorities. Shitou was imprisoned in China for his political activism. His captors threatened his family, so once he was released he fled to the UK with his wife and young daughter.
Note that family names have been omitted to protect speakers’ identities.
Sanctuary in Chichester offers a welcome to people arriving in our area, having lost everything and having suffered devastating trauma. Sanctuary then provides practical support to help them survive, integrate, heal and thrive. Find out more.
