Action on refugees

sir – The simplest route to Britain for Ukrainian refugees is by Eurostar.

The existing service has three major stops on the Continent: Brussels, Lille and Paris. Passports could be checked at any of these stations. Trains could then be dispatched non-stop to either Folkestone or Ashford. It is then a 20-mile road journey to the former RAF Manston, where more detailed checks could be undertaken.

Manston has been earmarked by the Home Office as a reception centre for illegal migrants, so should be able to receive these desperate people. To paraphrase a former prime minster’s words at a different time of crisis: “Action this day, not tomorrow.”

J H Websper

Margate, Kent

sir – A friend went to Poland to help bring his wife’s family to Britain. His wife is Ukrainian but a British citizen.

At the British Embassy they were asked whether they had committed a motoring offence in the past 10 years. How is that relevant?

Dr Trevor Masters Southend-on-sea, Essex

sir – As a former inspector of immigration I am appalled at how the Home Secretary and senior managers within the Home Office have responded to the refugee crisis.

The forerunner of Border Force, the UK Immigration Service, was flexible in its response to various crises – in Kosovo, for instance. Staff have always had a “can do” attitude to apparently overwhelming problems, yet the present management lacks this.

Border Force and immigration enforcement staff are stretched beyond capacity by boats crossing the English Channel.

A pool of experienced former staff – many of whom worked as visa officers and managers in embassies and high commissions overseas – would be willing to help to establish visa sections in Calais, other Channel ports or even further afield within the EU, but they have been overlooked. This is a damning indictment of the upper echelons of the Home Office. Andy Cole Walmer, Kent