Brazil, Venezuela and Chile vow to take in Syrians

Brazil will take in 20,000 Syrian refugees, President Dilma Rousseff said late on Monday, while stressing the country would welcome them with "open arms". 

Our government remained comitted to welcoming "those who, driven from their homeland, want to come live, work and contribute to the prosperity and peace of Brazil," she said. 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has also ordered his foreign ministry to take steps to receive 20,000 Syrians while Chile's President Michelle Bachelet said her country also would be happy to take in refugees, although she did not specify a number or nationality.

"Throughout our history, we have always had our doors open to those, sometimes coming from far away places, bringing their history and cultural to the construction of our nation," Bachelet said. 

Leaders of Chile's Arab community, which numbers around 300,000 people, approached the government recently with a plan to offer shelter and support to about 100 refugee families from Syria.