I had previously thought that none of the countries surrounding Syria was offering much assistance to that troubled region but I now discover that Jordan and Lebanon have taken vast numbers of people escaping from Syria. Apparently one in three of the Jordan population is now Syrian and if we had the same proportion of immigrants according to our population we should have 20 million.

It makes our offer to take 20,000 over five years look a little feeble but on the other hand assimilation into other Muslim countries will be far more manageable and acceptable than into a Christian country such as the UK.

I still wonder why we are planning on taking immigrants for five years. Does the Government think that the Syrian conflict will last that long.

Geoffrey Richards, Ashton Road , Hilperton, Trowbridge