Let them stay

Whereas I feel that there will be many instances where people from other countries have been allowed to live here, I certainly feel that this is a particular case where we should be showing compassion, kindness and love.

Just look at the photograph you have printed in The Press.

In view of the fact that this family has lived here in the UK since 2001, and the strong possibility of their ill-treatment if they are sent back to Turkey, now is the time to show that we British can be human and caring about people.

I do hope to hear that their efforts to remain in the UK will be successful.

It is very good to hear that they are making great efforts to assimilate into the British way of life and that they are well known, well liked and have many friends.

Good luck and God bless you, Makbule family.

Mr I Ward, Acacia Grove, Haxby, York.

• THANKS go to The Press for its honest and humane reporting of the case of the Yaman family, Kurdish refugees threatened with deportation to Turkey.

Here's a family who have committed no crime and done no harm. The two children have special needs and are settled in local schools; their mother attends lessons to learn English and computer skills.

They are known and liked in the community. Surely they are a model of the integration that we ask of refugees.

The family are terrified of returning to the not-so-tender mercies of the Turkish state.

We join Refugee Action in urging the Home Office to review their case, and for pity's sake, let them stay.

Refugee Action can be contacted on 01904 656862, or come to their next meeting on February 27 at 7pm at the Friends Meeting House, Friargate.

Ben Drake, Branch Secretary, York City UNISON, Swinegate Court East, York.

• I WRITE as a member of Refugee Action York to thank you for drawing attention to the plight of the Yaman family from Clifton, who continue to face the threat of deportation to Turkey from which they fled in 2001 after having been imprisoned on suspicion of supporting the Kurdish independence movement.

I was interested to read the Home Office statement that "we examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove any person we believe is at risk on their return", and that, "all representations for asylum are carefully considered by trained case workers based on up to date information . . .".

This statement is flatly contradicted by the Medical Foundation For Victims Of Torture, which reports the resort to "standard paragraphs . . . in Home Office refusal letters", and that "individual cases are rarely assessed".

Even the Government's own National Audit Office has said that the Home Office should provide more training to caseworkers at the induction stage, and that it should provide more specialist training once they have experience.

The NAO also recommended that caseworkers should have better understanding of human rights issues and knowledge of asylum law.

We cannot have confidence that families such as the Yamans will not be returned to danger until policy towards refugees and asylum seekers is no longer based on a party political bidding war to see who can be more robust' in returning failed claims, but instead on the traditional British values of compassion, fairness and justice.

Dr Simon Parker, Department of Politics, University of York.