“Volker Heins uses the refugee crisis as a precise diagnosis of our present: What if more and more people flee and fewer and fewer know where to go? Incisively, intelligently, and with compelling narrative, he describes the social struggles for safe havens and why it is worthwhile to combine a pessimistic diagnosis of our times with a new, radical concept of hope.” Naika Foroutan, Iranian-German social scientist.
In an era of right-wing resurgence and shrinking asylum regimes, Sanctuary Cities offers a timely, internationally grounded framework for rethinking migration, solidarity, and the future of open societies.
While many states are closing their borders and governments are pursuing isolationist policies, increasing numbers of people worldwide are being forced to flee due to wars, environmental destruction, and state arbitrariness. Against this backdrop, a pressing question emerges: if states withdraw from their responsibility to protect, where can people —who are politically framed as a problem to be contained— still seek refuge?
In his essay, political scientist and author Volker Heins sheds light on welcoming cities as places of refuge. Looking at the cases of Chicago, Sheffield, Palermo, Zurich, Berlin and Kampala, cities that have made the practical support of refugees and solidarity with migrants a core principle—actively opposing their countries’ national policies. They provide assistance regardless of origin or residency status, develop identification cards for all who wish to stay in the city, offer support with legal matters, and protect against police arbitrariness. Cities of this kind can be found on almost every continent; they are called Safe Havens, Sanctuary Cities, or Città dell’accoglienza (Cities of Welcome).
What are the concrete effects of the promise of protection for people without legal residency status? Is this self-image of the cities sustainable or merely a moral fervor? Is a new concept of urban freedom even emerging here? And what happens when cities are directly attacked by the state—as was recently observed in the USA, where Donald Trump declared the fight against sanctuary cities a priority?
Without money, knowledge, or contacts, only the elemental force of flight remains, a force that comes from deep within and is born out of the greatest need.