Floods of refugees from Eastern Europe are swamping Oxford and costing the city a small fortune. The bill so far is a whopping £4m and rising, write Patrick Fleming, Oxford Mail Editor.

Public anger is increasing as hundreds of people - many of them orphans - are forced into a humiliating life of begging and borrowing. The problem has become so acute that there are now more asylum-seekers in the city than homeless.

Many of the refugees have escaped the horrors of Kosovo only to become victims of prejudice and abuse when they arrive in Britain, draining huge resources from council budgets.

It's high time the Government provided a genuine and caring solution which will give a quality of life to people who have already had their lives ruined by violence and oppression. Simply allowing them to flood our towns and cities without any coherent network of support is a national disgrace.

Our hard-pressed local councils are already struggling to find sufficient funds to improve public services. A huge responsibility falls on cash-strapped social services to deal with the human consequences of asylum.

It is scandalous that local people are expected to foot the bill simply because Oxford has become an easy dropping-off point for the refugees.

We have no idea what the answer to this cruel trap is, but it is patently obvious that it's a problem way out of control.

Already a special team of six people has been created to deal with the increasing pressure of finding accommodation. The reception area of the social services office in Cowley Road is regularly so crammed that the unit is having to be re-housed in new premises.

While the number of homeless people in Oxford stands at 900, there are more than 1,300 asylum-seekers now in the city, and the pressure on limited rental accommodation is intense.

The county council can only claim back £140 a week for adults and £240 a week for families from the Government, and the social services department is seeking to move many people to cheaper parts of the county.

Michael Holding, of the council's asylum-seeker unit, says: "We have seen an enormous increase in numbers over the last six months. There are still many from Kosovo but also Somalia and Afghanistan. "The vast bulk are living in Oxford. The city does seem to be a great draw, although some people found in the back of lorries do not even know they are in the UK."

Many of the asylum-seekers are discovered by police at service stations on the M40. What happens next can only be described as meeting the most basic needs.

Mr Holding says: "We deal with people as well as we can in very difficult circumstances and try to do it as humanely as possible. We provide only the very basic necessities."

The Government is due to take responsibility for asylum-seekers from April 1, but those already here will remain in the care of the local authority.

And the city council fears unscrupulous landlords may be exploiting the situation by charging top rates to accommodate refugees. Some landlords are demanding up to £450 a week for the most squalid conditions. Most asylum-seekers do not qualify for council homes or local authority accommodation and become instead the responsibility of social services.

As well as paying for accommodation, the department also provide weekly food vouchers worth £30.

It's a muddled and depressing situation - and not just for the refugees. Now is the time for action.

Do you know a landlord cashing in on the crisis? Or have you got a radical solution to the problem? We want to hear from you. Call our Newsdesk on 01865 425444, write to Letters to the Editor, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0EJ or e-mail us at www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk

Story date: Friday 03 March

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.