Mr Le Main made the comments in an article published yesterday in The Sunday Express, which reported: ‘A citizens’ revolt is threatening the peace of the Channel Islands’.
He spoke out after the Chief Minister, Ian Gorst, said that ministers were looking at how Jersey could help in the current crisis.
Those moves, the Senator has confirmed, could mean Jersey taking in five or six families from Syrian refugee camps.
In Sunday’s article, Mr Le Main was quoted as saying: ‘Of course we are sympathetic.
‘We are part of the global world.
‘The reality is that we are heavily populated and the idea of migrants here is frightening.
‘We have a social housing shortage and a severe shortage of affordable homes.
‘The waiting lists are massive.
‘In 2011 we had about 190 on the social housing waiting list. Now it’s about 1,500 and rising.’
On Friday, during a debate for secondary-school pupils in the States Assembly, Senator Gorst said: ‘We could possibly take five or six families, which could be anywhere between 20 and 30 refugees.’
He added, that in line with the British government’s policy, they should come from refugee camps on the Syrian borders run by international aid agencies.
‘Jersey has a long history of responding generously to humanitarian emergencies, and also wanting to work with international agencies to deliver long-term solutions to crises wherever they are happening around the globe,’ said the Chief Minister.
‘We are asking ourselves what more we can do to help in this particular crisis and we are absolutely committed to playing our part helping refugees.’
