AS Refugee Week draws to a close, I would like to draw attention to a new report concerning asylum application in the UK.

A new report from Amnesty International, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and Save the Children reveals that almost three quarters of asylum applications (74 per cent) are made by people from countries where conflict is occurring.

The report shows that the vast majority of asylum seekers are not simply coming to Britain because we are seen as a soft touch, as some politicians and sections of the press claim, but because they are faced with the prospect of death, rape or torture at the hands of soldiers or armed militia in their home countries.

Therefore we should celebrate and work for a continuance in Britain's proud tradition of offering sanctuary to people fleeing in fear for their lives, and celebrate the positive contribution that refugees make in the UK.

Amnesty International is also calling for the present government not to treat the asylum issue as one where they merely look for a reduction in numbers of people making applications. We are calling for an improvement in the quality of information used to make asylum decisions combined with a robust appeals system.

This is because many rejections are based on inaccurate information (16,000 successful appeals against rejected asylum decisions were made in 2003, around 20 per cent of those made) and a lack of vigorous appeals system could lead to somebody been sent home to face torture or even death.

Now is a time to remember that vast majority of asylum seekers do not deserve the vilification handed out to them by many in the press and politics, but that they are human beings who deserve to be treated with the same amount of dignity and respect that we ourselves would like to receive.

MATTHEW EGAN, Rossendale and Hyndburn Amnesty International Group.