The UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years, David Cameron has told MPs.
The prime minister said the UK had a “moral responsibility” to resettle refugees living in camps bordering Syria while also doing all it can to end the conflict in the country.
Vulnerable children and orphans would be prioritised in what would be a “national effort”, Mr Cameron said.
The international aid budget will be used to help councils house people.
France earlier announced that it would take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years.
Mr Cameron told MPs that the suffering of the Syrian people and others trying to make it to Europe in recent weeks was “heartbreaking” and that the UK was stepping up its effort to help those displaced by the conflict.
He told MPs that the existing Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, in place since early 2014, would be expanded, with an additional 20,000 people currently living in camps in Syria, Turkey and Jordan being resettled in the UK by 2020.
Source: BBC
