September 8: Answers needed on Syria refugee crisis

THERE are some questions about the current migrant crisis across Europe and the Middle East which come to mind that no interviewer or commentator has asked of the migrants or politicians.

1. How many of the thousands across Europe are actually Syrians?

2. Why after years of civil war in Syria is this migration suddenly happening now?

3. How come the vast majority of these migrants are young men under 25 and not women and children?

4. What is being or will be done to ensure the thousands of young men do not include ISIS terrorists infiltrating Europe and the UK?

5. What are Muslim countries, especially oil-rich ones in the Middle East, doing to offer help and refuge?

6. What is the USA doing to offer help and refuge?

7. If these people are genuine refugees, why do they not seek to enter countries legally rather than illegally and in a threatening way?

David Cameron must be right in focusing on taking refugees direct from the camps near Syria and not those on the move in Europe as everything should be done to discourage those using people traffickers to follow on from those already in Europe.

From: Simon Kaye, Kirby Lonsdale, Carnforth.

I AM the son of a Kindertransport refugee. If it were not for Britain’s generosity and care for those most in need at times of peril, then my father would most probably have perished in the Holocaust – as did his parents.

We are facing the same refugee crisis today. As a UK citizen I do not want to close the door of my country to people as desperate and needy as was my father.

Let’s all call upon our Government to act with care and compassion to do our share - standing firmly alongside our brothers and sisters in Europe.

This is not a swarm.

These are fellow human beings in terrible need – let us not turn and look the other way.

From: Kathleen McDermott, Rockfield Drive Worksop.

HOW many of these “desperate” refugees are, in reality, economic migrants. Sending the message that Europe is open for refugees encourages people to make the perilous journeys in the hope of a better life and the numbers will escalate to the point where Europe cannot cope.

Threat to democracy

From: Adrian F Sunman, South Collingham, Newark.

IF Jeremy Corbyn wins the Labour leadership election, it will be a sad day not only for that party but also for the wider cause of democracy.

I am a lifelong Tory and I hope my party is returned to office after the next General Election in 2020 because I happen to think that’s what is in Britain’s best interests.

However I also want to see it re-elected because it has earned the right to govern and is there on merit, not because the Opposition has been rendered incapable of offering a believable alternative.

From: Mike Lacey, Elloughton.

DOES no supporter of Jeremy Corbyn not stop to think? He is 66 but looks more like he is in his mid-70s. By the time of the next election, he will be approaching 71. If by some miracle he achieves high office, he will then be nearing 76 at the following election. That would be quite something.

We have not had a Prime Minister of that age since Winston Churchill, and Jeremy Corbyn is definitely no Churchill.

So, at best, he would be a one- term Prime Minister. What is needed is an Opposition leader of mature years, but not one who has already reached normal retirement age, and will be past his “use by” date, by the time of the next election.

Not front page news

From: Margaret Mawer, Scalby Beck Road, Scarborough.

HOW I agree with the recent letter from John Watson of Leyburn with regards to your front page showing rugby player Keegan Hirst. Surely there are more important and interesting topics than his “coming out” for your front page? Whether he has “come out” or not is, I would have thought, a personal decision to him and his family. I also agree with John Watson in that The Yorkshire Post is the best provincial newspaper in the country. Long may it reign.

BBC bias and the Hull Blitz

From: Val Wood, Author, Beverley.

BBC biased? Of course it is, even the weather forecast begins in the south, and as for ignoring the devastating Blitz on Hull during the Second World War (The Yorkshire Post, September 5), well even Winston Churchill came to inspect the war-torn city, or what was left of it. No celebrities? We have a few. Forgotten city or a well-kept secret?

Blaze of glory

From: Fiona Lemmon, Maltby.

ROTHERHAM has come in for some bad press but, on a positive note, the central reservations on the roads in and around the town have been a blaze of beautiful wild flowers over the summer. It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of summer we have: the various species bloom regardless and are a delight to behold.