Failing: refugees losing out

Asylum seekers are again in the headlines with claims that a key support service is failing them.

A report by the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux warned on Wednesday that the National Asylum Support Service must do more to help refugees.

The association accused the service of "comprehensively failing both asylum seekers and taxpayers" highlighting cases of asylum seekers, including young children, being left without money or the controversial food vouchers.

The report called for NASS to introduce local "drop-in" centres to help refugees run by trained staff with foreign language skills. If the government does not tackle the problem then local authorities - particularly social services - will be left to take the strain which will lead to increasing racial tension, believe the report's authors.

"The National Asylum Support Service can only be described as a shambles. It is simply unacceptable that men, women and children who have already faced some of the worst violations of human rights should suffer further at the hands of such an inefficient and unresponsive public service," said the association's spokesman.

The Home Office hit back saying the service had now improved.

"We know there have been problems in the past with NASS. But we have introduced substantial reform, and improved the system for dealing with asylum seekers. NASS is an improving service, not a failing one. A number of changes have been implemented and others set in motion, including the abolition of vouchers," said a spokesman.