World Refugee Day passed almost unnoticed this week, as we forgot about the great humanitarian crisis

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Sunday 25 June 2017 19:07 BST
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The refugee crisis must remain front of mind for us
The refugee crisis must remain front of mind for us (Ashley Gilbertson for Unicef)

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Amid the stench of death and the gruesome photos of the Grenfell Tower blaze and the harrowing scenes of terrorist attacks in Manchester and at Finsbury Park Mosque in London, we seem to have forgotten the plight of refugees, the displaced and the dispossessed.

The occasion of the World Refugee Day which fell on 20 June has passed without much notice this year. The mass exodus of millions of refugees fleeing the cruelties in the Middle East and elsewhere that has placed enormous pressure on essential public health services in countries such as Jordan – and stifled sincere attempts of development – deserves more attention.

Appreciation is not enough. It is time to harness the international support more resolutely and respond with more generosity, solidarity and permanent solutions to the crises that offer fertile grounds for extremism, terrorism, unfair discrimination, deprivation, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London NW2

No-one seems to remember who actually voted for Brexit

During the BBC Newsnight interview, Andrea Leadsom not only made her “patriotic” gaffe, but also kept on saying that “we” voted to come out of Europe.

To be precise, the slightly bigger half of the UK voted to leave the EU and that was based on spurious information, lies and deception. What does she propose to do about the 48 per cent, many of whom will never commit allegiance to a UK run by the likes of her?

John Harrison
Shropshire

Thank you, Andrea Leadsom, for confirming Dr Johnson's immortal pronouncement: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”

Jack Speicher
​Essex

Roy Bliss states in support of Remain that “virtually half the population see considerable advantages in EU membership”. Actually, 46 million people were eligible to vote in the referendum. Only 16 million voted to remain in Europe, which left a majority of 30 million voters who were either pro-Brexit or, for various reasons, content to go along with that majority decision.

Gavin Lewis
Manchester

As Winston Churchill might have said: “You can always count on the Labour Party to do the right thing – after it’s tried everything else.” I refer, of course, to the fact that senior members of the party are belatedly waking up to the immense damage withdrawing from the EU will do to our economy, to our standing in the world and to our own inter-community relationships.

Robert Curtis
Birmingham

There is a magic money tree after all

The PM told a nurse there is no “magic money tree”. Now who is going to pay to make high-rise dwellers safe? What is the essential difference between a magical money tree and quantitative easing?

Christopher Hall
Banbury

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