The study blames the media and politicians for skewing the debate

It says the relocation of refugees and their families out of high-pressure spots in the South East is driven by a "moral panic" fuelled by negative, often misleading portrayals, of the issue by politicians and in the media.

Dispersal is more expensive, and dispersal destinations are often inadequately selected and prepared for asylum seekers, say the authors.

The criticism came as the former government minister Stephen Byers prepared to give a speech in which he warned the government that failure to take on the asylum issue could cost them the next election.

'Fearful white electorate'

The authors of the study, a book titled Spreading the "Burden"?, include Vaughan Robinson, director of the Migration Unit at the University of Wales, Swansea, and two other academics from Sweden and the Netherlands.

They looked at the dispersal policy, which has seen 90,000 asylum seekers and their families moved out of London and the South East.

The government is trying to slash asylum seeker numbers

The book argues that the policy was driven by a desire to "appease a fearful white electorate" rather than a calm, considered approach to settling people fleeing danger or oppression.

It says dispersal destinations are often selected solely on the availability of cheap housing, and that local authorities are not properly briefed about the people arriving in their area, leading to a mismatch in provision of services.

The authors also suggest dispersal is a more expensive option than "clustering" - whereby asylum seekers are grouped in a small number of areas - because specialist services such as interpretation have to be provided around the country.

The authors call for an informed debate that recognises that seeking asylum is a human right.

'Not racist'

But Mr Byers told the Social Market Foundation think-tank in London that the government must clamp down on false claimants or face the electoral consequences.

He said fears of being branded racist must not stop efforts to curb the problem.

Ignoring people's legitimate concerns over "one of the most important issues facing our country" was a mistake that had already been made by other parties of the left across Europe, he said.

He praised the efforts of Home Secretary David Blunkett to achieve a government pledge to cut asylum applications to half their 92,000 high by September.