I STRONGLY disagree with the sentiments Carole Tucker put forward on asylum (Letters, November 12).

I find it refreshing that the Evening Press takes such a rational approach to the issue, in contrast to the sensationalist stories put out by the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express.

It is necessary to create programmes to get the facts out about asylum, and I see no reason why Lottery funding shouldn't be used for this purpose. In her letter Carole writes that asylum seekers are involved in prostitution and gang warfare, yet she provides no evidence for her statement.

A report by the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2001 confirmed that there was no evidence for a higher rate of criminality among asylum seekers.

I should require evidence before I believed the spurious claim that one in five school children in London are asylum seekers.

Andrew Collingwood,

Turners Croft, York.

...I AM not sure why Carole Tucker objects to the work of the Asylum 21 group. She disparages their efforts to encourage understanding and empathy for refugees as "propaganda".

Would Ms Tucker rather they encouraged misunderstanding and hostility?

All of us - whatever our views on asylum policy - surely agree that refugees themselves are not our enemy. They are fellow human beings and deserve the decency and respect we would all expect regardless of circumstances.

I must also question the credibility of Ms Tucker's last two points.

Firstly, where is her evidence for the offensive implication that refugees are to blame for gun crime or prostitution?

Secondly, where has she got the absurd idea that there are "thousands" of asylum seekers in York?

At last count there are 30.

Ben Drake,

Danum Road,

Fulford, York.

Updated: 10:12 Wednesday, November 26, 2003