Well said Lord Dubs (“Protections afforded to refugees benefit us all,” Opinion, February 18). His is a voice to be reckoned with on refugee issues, with a raft of experience, personal (Kindertransport) and professional (Refugee Council).
Britain has a good record of compassion and sympathy towards those in need. It is surely important that we see refugees, and particularly those seeking asylum, in personal human terms, and not just as social and economic problems.
Our political parties, each in their separate ways, edge towards ever harsher and less humane immigration policies. Dubs is surely right in calling for more sympathy and understanding, and the reopening of legal paths to settle here, and for less talk of punishment, exclusion and withdrawal of rights to citizenship in shaping our policies.
The refugees are not mostly criminals. They are mostly people in dire need.
Peter Heap
London SW1, UK