MORE than 50 families have been relocated outside of the city so far this year, with Syrian refugees among the latest forced to move.

The Morad family, who came to Oxford from war-torn Aleppo in December 2012, are living in emergency accommodation off Abingdon Road.

Despite saying they were promised permanent housing by the council, on Friday they were then told they had to move to Birmingham to a property or be evicted.

John McNulty, a lawyer at Oxford-based firm Turpin & Miller, is now fighting to keep them in the city.

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He said: “In Syria they had quite a lot of trauma. Mr Morad was in a car bomb explosion in Aleppo, which left him with severe injuries and using a wheelchair. There’s a very small, closely-knit Kurdish community here which they wanted to join.”

He said that the council gave the family an offer of false hope for housing in Headington before withdrawing the offer, blaming on a “clerical error”.

Mr McNulty said: “One would have thought that as a city we would have demonstrated kindness and understanding.”

Morad Morad, 50, and Almasa Haji, 42, had their own pharmacy business in Aleppo but neither work here.

Their daughter Linda, 11, goes to Cheney School and and nine-year-old twins Farid and Mohamad go to St Francis CoE School.

Mr Morad said: “We came to Oxford to get support from friends and relatives. There are six or seven families here that are all from the same part of Aleppo. We rely on that support.

“I remember Syria when we had to run from village to village, the feeling of insecurity and fear, going into the unknown. This is just like that.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem, for families from Oxford as well as those who have fled oppression in Syria and elsewhere.”

The council’s board member for housing Scott Seamons said: “It’s extremely difficult.

“We’re not able to do what we did a decade ago and put people in the private rental sector because it’s too expensive.

“It’s a crisis. It’s heartbreaking, people have to leave behind family and friends, but there are far too many people coming to us for the number of affordable houses we have.

“We are trying to support people moving out of the city as much as we can, helping with removal costs and linking them with support workers in their new areas.

“It’s a very difficult situation.”

Since January the city council said 54 families have been relocated outside of Oxford.

Council spokesman Chofamba Sithole said: “The family’s medical and social needs have been considered in accordance with the law and, with help from our tenancy support worker, can be met in Birmingham.”