Refugees should never be used as political footballs – we can do better

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A group of people thought to be migrants are brought to Dover in November (Gareth Fuller/PA)

A study by the Refugee Council has found that 91 per cent of people desperate enough to cross the Channel in small boats come from just 10 countries where war, human rights abuses and oppression are common. The countries include Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Eritrea.

They should be welcomed and given a chance to rebuild their lives here. Any government that has squandered £36bn on a coronavirus track and trace app that didn’t work has the resources to treat asylum seekers as human beings and not as political footballs.

Sasha Simic