Letters to the Editor: Shameful milestone as we mark World Refugee Day

A very small proportion come to our shores to seek protection and we should be willing to help them

A Syrian refugee holds onto his children as he struggles to walk off a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea.

It is disheartening as we mark World Refugee Day on Monday that the number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence, and climate change has passed the 100 million threshold for the first time since record-keeping began. This means one in every 78 people on earth has been uprooted — a shameful milestone that few would have expected a decade ago.

Everyone has the right to live peacefully at home, no matter who they are or where they come from. No one chooses to give up their lives and start again in a new and often strange and unfamiliar environment. No one chooses for their children to lose out on years of schooling or their newborn to have no legal identity.