It's you who are ignoring us

Your article on refugees (“Why are you ignoring us?”, 22 October) ignored the work of all refugee- and community-based housing associations that are providing direct housing to refugee groups.

Many are working on a self-help ethos providing housing by developing their own housing stock, managing housing for other registered social landlords or leasing private sector properties. You focused on work done by the Housing Associations Charitable Trust but excluded other contributors.

We are also disappointed that Housing Today did not feature examples of good practice, such as work done by Arhag Housing Association and other organisations in the Newham, east London, where the council has made dozens of properties available for refugee and black and minority-ethnic needs.

Refugees don’t always need to be treated as victims or people with special needs to be clients of Supporting People projects. Such an approach is deeply patronising and offensive to many refugees who would much prefer to be respected as human beings and would like to rely on the support of their own community

organisations. The National Asylum Support Service’s attempts to disperse refugees was doomed to failure as many of us warned. Refugees given leave to stay are drifting back to areas where their community has settled and where they can be safe, and develop their own community networks.

Refugees will integrate with the community when they are treated with some respect not when they are treated as a “problem” to be solved by white liberals. People who have fled from persecution or have migrated to the UK from their exploited countries simply want the opportunity that Britain offers to new communities to provide their own solutions.