Shame on those stoking fears about refugees | Letters

Readers share their views on the UK government's response to Channel migrant crossings

Chris Philp shares" what he calls the anger and frustration of the public at the appalling number of crossings" (Refugees tell of brutality as people-smuggling across Channel booms, 7 August).

What is appalling is his own rhetoric, which is likely to whip up resentment and dehumanise the people desperately trying to reach the UK. Most are fleeing conflict and persecution; they are coming to claim asylum, which they have a legal right to do. The numbers involved are minuscule when presented as a fraction of our population (0.006%), and lower than the normal number entering the UK in non-Covid times to claim asylum.