As a volunteer with an organisation helping to support refugees and asylum seekers in Hertfordshire, I have to take issue with Robert Jenrick when he says that their “values and lifestyles” threaten the UK’s social cohesion (‘Values and lifestyles’ of small boat refugees threaten social cohesion, says Jenrick, 25 April). The asylum seekers I have met have been polite, charmingly grateful for our help and eager to get on with their lives. This means working to improve their English – at college, as soon as they are eligible – and, since asylum seekers are not allowed to earn money, keen to volunteer their services to charities and other organisations. The parents are as concerned for their children’s wellbeing as any UK parents, care for them lovingly and encourage them to work hard at school.
Meanwhile, they are coping with the trauma of lives disrupted by violence, the turmoil of their journeys to get here and the stresses of living, usually in one room, in a strange country where they are dependent on the kindness of strangers for clothing, shoes and all the necessities of life. In my view, the UK will benefit immeasurably from their presence and the skills and values they bring.
Vicky Woodcraft
Trustee, Herts Welcomes Refugees
