Exhausted, demoralised and confused, 161 Kosovar refugees touched down in Yorkshire at the weekend after an escape from Hell.

The Kosovar Albanians landed at Leeds/Bradford Airport to begin a new chapter in a life that has seen them torn from their homes, their families and their possessions.

They clutched each other as they left the Bulgarian airliner and stepped down to the safety of Yorkshire. They had nothing else to cling on to. They were weary and wan after spending weeks in an overcrowded, unsanitary refugee camp. Their eyes reflected the horror of Kosovo, some were still mourning lost relatives after the ethnic cleansing policies of Slobodan Milosevic.

First the bewildered refugees were taken to a reception area, then on to two former nursing homes in Leeds which will become their temporary home. They have been told they can stay in Britain for at least a year. Some will wish to move away from Leeds and North Yorkshire County Council has been in talks about accommodating any who prefer to move to our county.

More will inevitably follow.

Hopefully, Nato pressure on Yugoslavia and its war machine will put an end to the murder and torture which forced thousands to flee their homes. The refugees should then be allowed to return to their homes to live in peace and safety.

It is right that they should be repatriated as soon as possible, but only when they can return in conditions which allow them to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives.

Even the graphic television images of the suffering and bloodshed cannot truly bring home to us just what these people have gone through. But the sight of these despairing souls arriving in Yorkshire with just a glimmer of hope and relief dawning on their faces was stark reality

Now it is up to all of us to give them a warm Yorkshire welcome as well as continuing to support the vital relief work for those who are still trapped in the nightmare.

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