Seeking and Providing Sanctuary below the State: Insights from Wales and South Tyrol

A plurality of actors below the state shape the daily life of migrants (Manatschal, Wisthaler & Zuber, 2020), and undocumented persons in particular (Piccoli, 2019). Yet, more often than not, academic analysis and policy debates on sanctuary focus only on two levels: the city and the state, and the nature of the relationship between these levels of government. These discussions often portray the city as inclusive and liberal, offering sanctuary as a response to the state’s exclusive policies. In doing so, cities are perceived as challenging the state’s authority on sanctuary (Squire & Bagelman, 2012: 161). This body of research overlooks the fact that substate governments other than the city – regional, provincial, cantonal and Bundesländer – also challenge the territorial exclusivity of sovereign states in regard to sanctuary governance (Edwards & Jones, forthcoming; Schech, 2013) and that these types of substate governments have become increasingly engaged in immigrant integration policy making. Substate governments, particularly those of substate nations, play a crucial but hitherto understudied role in offering (or withholding) sanctuary and setting alternative policies and narratives to the state approach (Edwards & Jones, forthcoming). This comparative article focusses on the response of two substate nations, Wales (UK) and South Tyrol (I), to those seeking sanctuary. By focusing specifically on two policy fields: reception and housing, the article highlights the opportunities and conflicts that arise from the multi-level governance of sanctuary. The cases are different in terms of the key features of the state within which they are located, and vary in terms of their economic, cultural, legislative and political characteristics, which are four factors that influence centre-periphery relationships. The article’s empirical analysis draws upon parliamentary debates regarding sanctuary seeking and provision in both cases (the Welsh Parliament’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee and the South Tyrolean Round table on undocumented persons) between 2016 and 2020. In the case of Wales, there is a move to establish the nation as the world’s first ‘Nation of Sanctuary’, which reflects a clear attempt to develop a specific Welsh approach to sanctuary that sets it apart from the UK Government. The Welsh Government along with Welsh local authorities attempt to provide an alternative approach to the hostile environment created by UK immigration legislation and policies, and yet face limitations given their competencies. By comparison, in South Tyrol, governmental and non-governmental actors engage in blame shifting not only between them, but in particular between levels of government. In doing so, the Sud Tyrolean government prevents cities from implementing sanctuary policies and as such, reinforces the state’s approach.