ABSTRACT
The direct impetus for the birth of the Sanctuary Movement came from a chance encounter. In this chapter, the author focuses more critically on the questions in relation to the context of the Sanctuary Movement: How the movement configured the refugee subject; the role of law in closing down rather than opening up a space of asylum and; the depoliticising of asylum by law. All the refugees who chose to take 'public sanctuary', were encouraged to deliver testimonies on their experiences. Testimony has a dual aspect: it enabled refugees to speak for themselves and it required them to perform for and be judged by others. One of the arguments for seeking the sort of legitimacy discussed in this chapter was a key element in spreading the movement beyond the usual suspects of radical activists. Just as sanctuary movement had mushroomed over a short period, so its decline was equally swift following the debacle of the Sanctuary Trial.
