Reuters/Lisbon
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday agreed that Britain would take in “thousands more” Syrian refugees, after an outpouring of emotion over the image of a Syrian toddler lying dead on a Turkish beach put him under pressure to act.
Cameron gave no precise figures, but a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency told reporters in Geneva that the British move would improve the lives of 4,000 Syrians.
As Europe seems at a loss to cope with thousands of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa seeking safety or better lives on the continent, many at home and abroad had accused Cameron’s government of being uncaring and inflexible.
Several of his own Conservative legislators and the human rights chief of the Council of Europe urged Britain to take in more refugees.
“Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of people, today I can announce that we will do more in providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees,” Cameron told reporters in Lisbon after meeting his Portuguese counterpart.
About 5,000 Syrians who made their own way to Britain since the start of the war in their country have been granted asylum, and another 216 were brought to Britain under a UN-backed relocation scheme.
“We will accept thousands more under these existing schemes and we keep them under review,” Cameron said, adding that the government would speak with humanitarian organisations and announce further details next week.
Other European countries such as Germany and Sweden have taken in far more refugees than Britain in recent times, and London declined to take part in a proposed EU scheme that would allocate quotas to member states.
Germany alone expects 800,000 people to file for asylum this year. About 25,000 people applied for asylum in Britain in the 12 months to March, of whom two-fifths were granted some form of protection.
