QUAKERS in Britain urge the UK government to welcome those desperately seeking a place of safety in Europe, from the dangers in their own countries. In this urgent situation it cannot be right to harden hearts against people who are struggling and dying on European soil and in the seas around us.

This exceptional time of need calls for a proportionate response from all the governments of Europe working together. We call for mechanisms to be created that will enable people to travel safely and to secure legal protection, including in Britain.

Refugees are fleeing from fear. Further violent interventions in countries such as Syria will not provide a solution. Difficult but compassionate decisions need to be made to secure peace for people in these regions.

Quakers assert that all human life is precious, each person is a child of God and the loss of one diminishes us all. In this severe crisis, we hear the Spirit calling us to throw ourselves into the fray with all the love and courage we can muster.

Let us look for ways of rising to this challenge here in Herefordshire by sharing ideas and working together.

JULIAN RUTHERFORD Clerk, Hereford Quakers, Canon Frome