FINDING REFUGE IN RUNNING
Meet the running club that’s helping asylum seekers and refugees in Ireland discover a sense of belonging
‘IT’S A DISPLAY OF HUMANITY, DIGNITY AND RESPECT,’ says writer and broadcaster Graham Clifford, who set up Sanctuary Runners in Cork in early 2018. He repeats those words several times during our conversation, to emphasise the fact those three things are the very least refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland deserve.
Direct Provision is a system in Ireland whereby those seeking asylum are provided with basic food and shelter – in camps, old hotels and caravan parks – while their claims for refugee status are being processed. The system has proved controversial, owing to the often rudimentary living conditions and the length of time people have been caught up in it. Established in 1999, it was intended to provide an interim arrangement (no more than six months) for the growing number of asylum seekers, but the reality, as revealed by online newspaper journal.ie, is that 55 per cent of people in Direct Provision have been there for five or more years.
Sanctuary Runners is not the solution for these people, but it does make their situation a little more bearable. ‘It’s an initiative to enable Irish people to run alongside, and in solidarity with, asylum seekers and people who reside in Direct Provision centres,’ explains Clifford, who has, for the past 18 years, reported on refugee crises around the world. His ‘lightbulb moment’ occurred midrace in January of last year. ‘I was running in a race in Waterford, in the southeast of Ireland,’ he says, ‘when it came to me, this idea of combining the two things I’m passionate about: migration and integration. It’s very hard for Irish people to meet or spend time with asylum seekers, so I thought if I create something where it’s easy and safe for people to come together and to show solidarity between Irish people and those seeking asylum, it also raises awareness of this system in which people are being held.’
Running, with its wonderful culture of camaraderie, seemed the perfect vehicle for this. ‘Sport, and running in particular, is a great equaliser,’ says Clifford. ‘When you’re giving it your all over that final kilometre and someone is beside you, willing you on, you don’t care where they come from – or what god they pray to, or none. There aren’t too many things that provide that feeling of togetherness.’
In the space of just one year, Sanctuary Runners has grown to 400 members. And at last year’s Cork City Marathon, 200 of the group turned out – 51 of whom were asylum seekers and refugees. It’s free to join and Clifford is determined to keep it that way.
Local parkruns, with their emphasis on community and friendship rather than chasing fast times, act as the only weekly sessions for each of the groups. Despite the limited training, however, some of the members are clearly talented runners. ‘We have an Ethiopian guy called Hiko who is in a centre in Dublin. He is running faster than our best marathon runner at the moment, so if he was living an athlete’s lifestyle he would get into the Olympic team.’
Sanctuary Runners is not a quick fix. The families of some members are often thousands of miles away, while they exist in a state of limbo, awaiting news on their applications for asylum. What the club does, however, is offer something to look forward to each week. ‘It’s not about us passing judgment on their application for asylum, or on the immigration system at large,’ says Clifford. ‘It's about saying, while they’re here, treading the same earth and breathing the same air, they will be treated with dignity and respect.’