Like the Norwegian bishop we can sympathise with refugees, but any right thinking person knows open door immigration is unsustainable

(The article is here: ‘Case of bishop found guilty in court shows need to take stand on refugees’)

I do not know if Canon Ellis was trying to proclaim the bishop as some sort of hero but at the same time the bishop broke the law of a democratically elected government.

I am not saying that he had no right to protest, but I do not think that he did the right thing in breaking the law.

Would it not have been better if the bishop, like the Good Samaritan, who seeing someone in need, paid to take care of them rather than illegally employing them?

Every country must have an immigration policy to protect its people and its borders.

We have seen in recent weeks how criminals have exploited those who are able to pay money to illegally come to the UK — sometimes with tragic circumstances.

If the authorities reward those who choose to circumvent the system, we can expect an increase in illegal immigration and the ruthless gangs that exploit the system.

If every refugee, asylum seeker or immigrant was allowed to bring his or her wider family circle, it would add tens of thousands of people to our population and it is unsustainable.

It would mean the people at the lower end of society would be the ones who would be affected the most through schools, housing, NHS, etc.

The liberal middle and upper classes who live in leafy ares, who maybe even have private health or education, would not experience the same impact.

While we can sympathise with refugees, any right thinking person realises to have an open door policy is unsustainable.

Many migrant people use what money they have to get out because of the economic situation in their countries or the misrule of those in charge.

The UK has a good track record in foreign aid, but it is impossible to run a country properly with an open door policy for all who want to come to the UK.

Having said this, it does not stop the country, individuals and churches helping people in poorer nations to help themselves in their own lands so that they may become self-dependent.

I for one do not believe that the answer lies in open door immigration.

John Mulholland, Doagh