I WISH to reply to your correspondent of April 2, who defended the 'voucher system' of support for asylum seekers, on the grounds that they might otherwise squander their income (£36 per week for a single adult) on phone cards.

My work in a drop-in centre for refugees over the past year, has left me in no doubt that the voucher system is cruel and creates more problems than it could ever hope to solve.

Asylum seekers have less income than people on Income Support, but they cannot 'shop around' or receive change when they spend vouchers -- so the supermarkets make an extra profit at their expense.

As for buying mobile phone cards, it does not take much imagination to realise that asylum seekers have to keep in constant contact with the Home Office, with their legal advisors, and perhaps most importantly with family and friends. They may well have had to leaves wives, husbands, or even children behind, or been forcibly separated from them. In fact there is nothing in the regulations to prevent asylum seekers from buying phone cards.

Your correspondent refers to an asylum seeker trying to spend over £100 on phone cards. Perhaps this person had saved the vouchers over a few weeks, and gone without food in order to keep in touch with his loved ones who cannot join him.

Until more of us understand the harsh realities of these people's lives, situations such as the tragic tension and violence in Varley Road, reported in the BEN this week, will continue to occur.

Susan Wardle

Berkshire Court

Bury