David Cameron has announced that the UK will house “thousands” more Syrian refugees, in response to Europe’s worsening refugee crisis.
“We have already accepted around 5,000 Syrians and we have introduced a specific resettlement scheme, alongside those we already have, to help those Syrian refugees particularly at risk.
“As I said earlier this week, we will accept thousands more under these existing schemes and we keep them under review.
“And given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the people, today I can announce that we will do more – providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees.”
Days after reiterating the government’s stance that “taking more and more” refugees won’t help the situation, the Prime Minister appears to have softened his stance.
His latest assertion that Britain will act with “our head and our heart” by allowing more refugees into the country comes after photos of a drowned Syrian toddler intensified calls for the UK to show more compassion towards the record number of people desperately trying to reach Europe. In reaction to the photos, he commented that, “as a father I felt deeply moved”.
But as the BBC’s James Landale points out, this move doesn’t represent a fundamental change in Cameron’s position. While public and political pressure has forced the PM’s hand to fulfil a moral obligation, he still doesn’t believe opening the borders into Europe, or establishing quotas, would help. He also hasn’t set a specific target for the number of refugees Britain will receive.
Content from our partners
Related
