04/09/2015

UK To Accept 'Thousands' Of Refugees

Prime Minister David Cameron has confirmed the UK is to accept "thousands" more refugees from Syria, in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis.

Mr Cameron has previously said that accepting more people was not the "simple answer" to the problem.

However, in a statement, following discussions with his counterpart in Portugal, Cameron said that the UK had a "moral responsibility" to help those displaced by war-torn Syria, and confirmed that further details would be released next week. He added that the additional refugees would come from UN camps bordering Syria, and not from those already in Europe.

The UK has been under increasing pressure to accept more refugees after a photograph was published of a three-year-old Syrian boy, named as Alan Kurdi, who was found drowned on a beach in Turkey.

"Today I can announce that we will do more," Mr Cameron said, "Providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees.

"We will continue with our approach of taking them from refugee camps. This provides them with a more direct and safe route to the United Kingdom rather than risking the hazardous journey which has tragically cost so many of their lives," he added.

(JP)

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