The military bombardment of Yugoslavia has continued, almost around the clock, for eight days. When it began, this newspaper offered our reluctant support. The Serb-inflicted suffering had to be stopped.

A week is a long time in war. Things have not gone to plan - if, indeed, military and political leaders ever had a plan.

Far from forcing Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic back to the negotiating table, the bombing has only entrenched his position. There is a growing realisation that, even if he were forced to negotiate a settlement, his word can never be trusted.

Instead of being alleviated, the suffering has intensified. The number of ethnic Albanians who have fled their homes in Kosovo is put at 100,000, a figure that rises by the hour.

The Serbs appear to be mounting a systematic campaign of terror to rid Kosovo of its majority population. Officials are taking seriously reports that Yugoslav forces have set up concentration camps, as they did in Bosnia. Such inhumanity is a sinister echo of the Holocaust.

Western governments are belatedly authorising humanitarian aid for the refugees. Britain's International Development Secretary Clare Short said nothing could have been done in anticipation of the crisis because that would have been "an appalling act of complicity in ethnic cleansing".

But the world could and should have acted as soon as intelligence reports identified the mass exodus.

Ms Short has authorised a further £500,000 donation to the UN's World Food Programme. That is not enough. Britain should also seriously consider offering asylum to some of the refugees.

The Serbs have destroyed the Albanians' identification papers and property deeds. We must face up to the fact that it could take years to repatriate them - even if they wish to return to the scene of such terror.

Tony Blair might find it politically difficult to bring refugees over here, considering his much-publicised crackdown on "bogus" asylum seekers.

But if he is genuine about "doing the right thing", it is an issue he must address.

Meanwhile, we can all do our bit.

When we see television pictures of the Albanians, the conflict can seem a long way away. In fact, these are our European neighbours.

The young people who have spoken so eloquently of their ordeal could have been our young people. We have a duty to help.

One man who is willing to do something is Clive Phoenix, of Haxby based charity Watch. He wants to take a truck-load of aid to the refugees.

We can all play a lesser part by supporting his mission, and the other charities at work on the Kosovo-Albanian border.

It is not much to ask.

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