Britain's David Cameron vows to take in more Syrian refugees
Prime Minister David Cameron gave in to pressure at home and abroad on Thursday and promised to fulfil Britain's "moral responsibilities" to accept a bigger share of Syrian refugees.
Cameron said he had been "deeply moved" by images of three-year-old Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, who was found dead on a Turkish beach, but he stopped short of making any new commitments.
"We do care," Cameron told reporters.
He said Britain would keep the number of refugees it accepts "under review" although he added: "There isn't a solution that's simply about taking people, it's got to be a comprehensive solution".
According to the Guardian newspaper, Cameron is prepared to accept thousands Syrians living in refugee camps on the border with their country, not the ones that have made it to Europe.
"Cameron remains convinced that accepting large number of Syrian refugees who are already in Europe will make the crisis worse and encourage more chaos," the Guardian stated.
The numbers of Syrian refugees, funding, and their planned location are still being debated on by the government, the newspaper added.
Cameron's announcement comes as a direct contrast to chancellor George Osbourne's comments earlier in the day, who blamed the Islamic State for killing Aylan Kurdi.
“We know there is not a simple answer to this crisis," he said. "What you need to do is first of all tackle ISIS [Islamic State] and the criminal gangs who killed that boy.”
Britain has accepted 216 Syrian refugees under a special government scheme over the past year and around 5,000 Syrians have been granted asylum since the conflict there broke out in 201-far fewer than countries like France, Germany and Sweden.
A petition to parliament urging Britain to accept more refugees has garnered nearly 250,000 signatures, while campaign group Avaaz said that 2,000 Britons had volunteered to host refugee families.