I AM dismayed by both the lazy conflation of asylum with economic migration and the faintly hysterical tone of letters characterising migrants as a threat.

There may indeed be legitimate questions to raise about the impact and realities of economic migration, but we need to be very careful that our facts are straight and our language is fair.

Any argument that portrays immigrants only as a burden but ignores other crucial causes of economic stress is myopic.

Above all we should distinguish economic migrants from refugees.

The question of accepting Syrian families to Malvern is one of our moral duty towards those unfortunate enough to have to apply for asylum beyond their home countries.

Asylum seekers cannot be described as either opportunistic or parasitic.

We should remind ourselves of the appalling reality of the conditions they are fleeing from.

In 2014 the numbers of positive asylum decisions in Germany was 48,000, in Sweden 33,000, France and Italy 21,000 and the UK 14,000.

When it comes to asylum we are not shouldering a disproportionate weight.

I would be pleased to see the local community rally in support of this humanitarian gesture, and to provide the opportunity for a handful of displaced Syrian families to regain a productive livelihood until they can return home in the future, which I imagine must be their cherished hope.

Benjamin Lee

Malvern