North East asylum seekers: 'Music is our lives'

The Citizen Songwriters formed in Durham in 2018

Asylum seekers living in the north-east of England are to perform songs they have written about their experiences seeking sanctuary.

Choir members and musicians are putting on a Stories of Sanctuary concert at Newcastle Cathedral on Thursday.

The performance is to raise money for more community music sessions.

The Citizen Songwriters co-ordinator said: "The music just seems to connect universally and crosses different cultures and languages."

The group started five years ago with funding from an Arts Council England grant.

Project co-ordinator Sam Slatcher, 33, said: "Music speaks to the soul and it puts into words ideas that we can't [otherwise] grasp.

"Sometimes we meet with the music more than we will do with the words."

Original songs include Like a Butterfly and So May We Find Peace

A choir member and asylum seeker living in Sunderland, who wishes to be anonymous, said: "Music is my life.

"I've been singing for a very long time but right now I'm seeking sanctuary here so I had to put that to rest a bit."

She has been in the North East since February and in the UK for just over a year. "It's been a long, nightmare time for me and my children," she said.

"It's been depressing, but I keep going. I keep smiling to keep from crying."

'Their gift can flourish'

It is not only current asylum seekers who form the choir.

Fanni Ngambi is the operations assistant at the Sunderland-based asylum seeker and refugee charity Friends of the Drop In. She sought asylum from Zambia in 2016 and got her papers in 2021.

She will also be performing on Thursday.

"We might not change their story, their situation or their circumstances," she said. "But it's a place where they can enjoy themselves and also learn from each other - like where to find the GP."

Fanni sought sanctuary herself from Zambia in 2016 and got her papers in 2021

"It's more than just singing, but also a place where you find that respite and a place where you make friends," she said.

"These people are going through this limbo, they're going through this trauma. But it's a place where their gift can flourish."

Raghad Haddad is a viola player from Syria, who was granted asylum in the UK in 2017 and who has performed with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra. She will also perform at the concert.

Raghad Haddad has performed with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra

She said applying for asylum was one of the most challenging times of her life but that she felt music was there for her, to help her get through the difficulties.

"Having a group is very important because refugees will have this safe space to express themselves and tell their stories," she said.

A Newcastle-based Sanctuary Seekers Choir will be established in the New Year.