British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged yesterday to take in up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.
“We are proposing that Britain should resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the rest of this Parliament. In doing so, we will continue to show the world that this country is a country of extraordinary compassion,” he said.
Cameron has been under pressure to take in a far greater number of refugees to help with the wider migrant crisis that has seen hundreds of thousand of people arrive in mainland Europe. In fact, the figure is still well below the numbers being taken by some other European countries.
Britain has so far taken in only 216 Syrian refugees under a UN-backed relocation scheme and about 5,000 Syrians who have made their way to Britain have been granted asylum.
Meanwhile Cyprus says it could take up to 300 preferably Christian refugees. EU member Cyprus said yesterday it would be willing to take in up to 300 migrants fleeing upheaval in the Middle East under new EU quotas, but would prefer them to be Christians.
The Mediterranean island of about one million people is the closest European state to Syria, which lies about 100 kilometres east. But Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos said its size meant that its reception capacity was limited.
Hasikos told state radio: “We have already stated that 260, a maximum of 300, people can be taken in... everyone should pitch in. We would seek for them to be Orthodox Christians... it’s not an issue of being inhuman or not helping if we are called upon, but to be honest, yes, that’s what we would prefer.”
He said it would be much easier for Christians to adjust to life in Cyprus. Despite its proximity to Syria, refugees tend to shun the island because of its isolation relative to the rest of the EU, and the difficulties of getting out.
It lies almost 500 km east of the next EU member state, Greece, primary gateway for migrants entering the bloc via Turkey.
Slovakia and the Czech Republic have also said they would prefer Christians under any EU resettlement scheme for migrants fleeing the Middle East.