Britain is set to accept thousands more Syrian refugees from camps in the Middle East following criticism that it has not been doing its share.
The local authorities have not revealed any specific figure but they said Britain would continue to take in thousands. The extra refugees are expected to come into the country from UN camps based on the Syrian border and not from those who are already in Europe.
The UN refugee agency has revealed that the Britain will take further 4,000 Syrian refugees from camps in the Middle East. But the Downing Street officials have refused to confirm or deny the figure of 4,000 saying that no specifics would be provided until next week.
The move comes amid pressure on the British government from the public to end the refugee crisis that has seen thousands of people die trying to flee the war in Syria. The British Prime Minister David Cameroon did not want to encourage more people to make the risky and unsafe journey across the Mediterranean Sea to reach the UK.
More than 400,000 people signed a petition demanding the government to accept more asylum seekers after pictures emerged of a Syrian child lying lifeless on a Turkish beach. The petition went viral on social media as it gained four times the 100,000 signatures for it to be eligible for a possible debate in the Parliament.
The images sparked international outrage and demands from governments to do more to protect those trying to reach the Europe. The three-year-old identified as Aylan Kurdi drowned with his mother and five-year-old brother, while trying to make the journey between the Turkish resort of Bodrum and the Greek island of Kos.
Thousands of refugees including Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and Sub-Saharan countries, have made the desperate journeys to EU states. IMAGE/tvnewsroom.org