Two councillors shared poignant stories of their own family members' journeys to the UK in support of moves by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) towards 'Council of Sanctuary' status.

Cllr Paul Zukowskyj told how his father moved to England after experiencing war, occupation, slave labour and the horrors of the Holocaust in Poland.

Cllr Hillary Skoczylas shared how her Jewish grandmother escaped her German homeland in the run-up to the Second World War.

Their emotional testimonies were revealed at a meeting of HCC's cabinet on Wednesday (October 14), when councillors formally requested officials to "take steps towards recognition as a Council of Sanctuary".

The cabinet also agreed that the council should join the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network.

In the run-up to the meeting more than 3,800 Hertfordshire residents backed a petition calling for any decision on sanctuary status to be put to a referendum. Broxbourne Conservative MP Lewis Cocking had slammed the move as a "grandstanding gesture".

Cllr Ajanta Hilton (Lib Dem, St Albans St Stephen's), HCC's executive member for public health and community safety, acknowledged there had been "public discontent" but that almost all of the opposition had been based on misinformation.

She said that the status would demonstrate a commitment to human rights, a welcome to those in need and a recognition of the positive contributions refugees and asylum seekers can make.

However, it was the heart-felt testimonies of Cllrs Zukowskyj and Skocaylas that put the focus of the meeting on the human impact of offering sanctuary.

Cllr Zukowskyj (Lib Dem, Hatfield South), who is HCC's executive member for environment, transport and growth, revealed that his own father had arrived in Britain with "nowhere else to go" after experiencing "horrors beyond comprehension" and having lost the "security of home, family and country".

Had Britain not given him sanctuary, he suggested his father could have faced a Siberian gulag or summary execution without trial – "a bullet in the back of his head was his most likely fate".

But instead, his father worked for 40 years in a paper mill, paid taxes, raised a family – "asked for little and contributed much".

Cllr Zukowskyj pointed to his own family as an example of what sanctuary had achieved.

"The opportunities this country gave him were then passed on to the next generation," he said. "His four children became a university lecturer and scientist, a director-level manager in the NHS, an airline pilot and a self-made businessman.

"That is what sanctuary achieved for my father and my family.

"It transformed a displaced refugee with no certainty about his future into the founder of a British family that has spent over seven decades contributing to this country's economy, public services, education and community life.

"That's why I know those who portray the very idea of sanctuary as somehow dangerous, naive or contrary to British interests are utterly wrong.

"My father's story reminds us that refugees are not an abstract category. They're human beings. They're fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They're people whose lives have been disrupted by events beyond their control.

"When my father came to Britain, there would undoubtedly have been people who feared newcomers, who worried about costs, who questioned whether displaced foreigners could ever belong here. History has answered that question. My father belonged. Tens of thousands like him belonged."

Cllr Skoczylas, the council's executive member for children and families, highlighted her own family's positive contribution to society.

Her grandfather's parents were German Jews who came to the UK to set up a business while her German Jewish grandmother arrived to flee persecution.

Her grandfather, a doctor of physics, invented and designed electrical test equipment, some of which was on HMS Belfast.

The family set up a manufacturing business in the 1930s that went on to employ up to 300 people – and in different guises has employed "probably into thousands" in Hertfordshire and further afield.

Family members have contributed as teachers, civil servants, supported schools and raised funds for charities.

She told councillors: "I think sometimes it's very easy to look at the costs and go, 'Well, this will cost this and this'. I think we need to make sure we balance that with the contributions and the longer-term positive contributions people make so there can be a balanced argument and balanced decision about this."

Earlier in the meeting, Cllr Hilton spoke to dispel the "misinformation" she said opposition to the move towards Council of Sanctuary status had been based on.

"It hasn't gone unnoticed: there is some public discontent about the council seeking sanctuary status," she said. "Almost all of the opposition to this proposal is based on misinformation rather than the reality of what sanctuary status means."

She stressed that the status would not change immigration policy and would not mean the county would end up with more asylum seekers or refugees.

In fact, she said, numbers were decreasing following the closure of two asylum hotels in the last month.

Cllr Hilton also stressed that sanctuary status would not lead to a need for provision of more housing, benefits or other services for asylum seekers and refugees.

The accreditation was designed to build on work being done by existing staff already working in this area, she said.

Should the council be awarded accreditation, the fee would be £2,700 – similar to that for White Ribbon and Ministry of Defence employee accreditation.

Sanctuary status would help to ensure the council was continuing to deliver support in the most effective way and was "the right thing to do", she said.

"Right now, those fleeing war, persecution or violence are unfairly targeted and blamed through misinformation and political rhetoric that paints them as a threat," said Cllr Hilton.

"Sanctuary status in Hertfordshire sends a clear message that refugees and asylum seekers should be treated with dignity, fairness and compassion, rather than being blamed for widersocial and economic problems."

After recounting her own positive experiences of asylum seekers who had been placed in a hotel near her home, Cllr Hilton said sanctuary status would demonstrate a commitment to human rights and recognise the positive contributions refugees and asylum seekers can make to society – when given the support and opportunity.

"It affirms that everyone deserves respect and protection, regardless of where they come from or why they have been forced to leave their home."