'In your face Trump!' - Swindon goes all out to welcome refugees
A warm welcoming town as council commits to becoming a 'Borough of Sanctuary'
Local issues deserve local journalists holding the powers that be to account. With local news in decline, knowing what is going on in our communities is more essential than ever. We can only exist because some of our readers are willing to support our work. If you value what we do, please consider becoming a paid supporter to ensure we can keep doing it. Free subscribers will only get the first part of this piece.
Swindon - working to become a more welcoming place for people seeking refuge
By Jamie Hill
If you turn on the news nowadays it’s pretty damn depressing.
You can’t escape it. Everywhere you look you see the victorious double act of US President Donald J Trump and Nazi-saluting multi-billionaire Elon Musk laughing as they make life harder or damn near impossible for every marginalised group you can think of.
Musk even took to the stage last week wielding a chainsaw whilst giggling about putting thousands of hard-working civil servants out of a job.
And whilst these two grinning maniacs carry on with their hate-filled spree there are real people suffering.
For the moment, in America at least, the bad guys have won their made up anti-woke culture war. (Please don’t think too deeply about what they mean by anti-woke as it really just boils down to them having an excuse to be vile to other human beings.)
As far as international politics are concerned, Trump has gone about as if he’s a bull in a china shop, completely ignoring the ramifications and consequences for displaced people on the ground.
In Palestine, he’s essentially put forward the idea of bulldozing Gaza completely and building a resort on the land, without even a single consideration for the millions of people who will be displaced by such an action.
And in Ukraine, he’s completely capitulated to the aggressors, the Russians, even trying to make off with half of the country’s minerals in the process as well as reiterating Moscow disinformation at the same time and ignoring the needs of Ukraine and Europe completely.
He’s like a toddler who wouldn’t recognise the nuance of global diplomacy if it sat on him.
Trump would definitely not like Swindon.
We’re too open and welcoming for him but luckily he has no power here apart from giving ignorant Facebook trolls on the town’s social media sites some ammunition as if he’s the second coming.
So turning on the news is definitely pretty depressing nowadays.
That’s unless you look at local Swindon news where the complete opposite of Trump’s ideals are going on in a community that we should all be proud of.
In Swindon the majority of us actively celebrate multiculturalism. And so we should.
Think of how much has been given to the town from different parts of the globe with its people actively settling here.
And the one thing that we have always done is welcome those people that have been displaced from other parts of the world.
Those fleeing persecution from authoritarian regimes (like the US is becoming). Those fleeing natural disasters from earthquakes to famine. And those fleeing war.
And now Swindon Borough Council is working with representatives from the local community to develop improvements in the way the town welcomes people seeking sanctuary.
As part of its mission to build a fairer Swindon, the council has committed to becoming a more open and inclusive town where people can learn from, and share the voices and needs of those looking for refuge.
Local businesses including Swindon Community Computing, Create Studios, The Harbour Project, Swindon 105.5 and local refugees met at an event a couple of weeks ago to discuss how Swindon can become an officially-accredited Borough of Sanctuary.