IF David Rowlands (EA May 23) thinks that his explanation why asylum seekers and refugees come to this country will satisfy the many thousands of people who oppose their entry then he is barking up the wrong tree.

He may well be right when he quotes world figures of 12 million refugees and 923,000 asylum seekers and that we only take about two per cent of these. I can tell him that even two per cent is a very large number.

Until we can afford to give our senior citizens a living pension, put right our over stretched National Health Service and find more money for our underfunded schools, then all asylum seekers, except those, if any, from the Irish Republic, should be refused entry and returned to the first safe haven which they crossed on their journey to our overcrowded islands.

By accepting more and more of these people we are making a rod for our own backs and race relations will surely break down before too long.

R W SELWAY

Stratton St Margaret