Obama draws pledges from 50 countries to take in 360,000 refugees

Fifty countries have pledged to take in 360,000 refugees this year, doubling the number from 2015, US President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday.

Opening a summit on refugees at the United Nations, he praised Germany and Canada among other countries that have opened up their doors to those fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts.

"We are facing a crisis of epic proportion," Obama said.

"We cannot avert our eyes or turn our backs. To slam the door in the face of these families would betray our deepest values."

A record-breaking 65 million people are on the move worldwide, including 21 million refugees competing for too few resettlement opportunities.

"Collectively, our nations are roughly doubling the number of refugees that we admit to our countries to more than 360,000 this year," Obama announced.

Countries also boosted financial contributions to UN appeals and international humanitarian organisations by about $4.5bn over 2015 levels.

The pledges included funds for ensuring access to schools for one million refugee children and enabling one million refugees to work legally.

Earlier the White House unveiled plans to increase refugee admissions to 110,000 next year, amid a fraught US debate over the appropriate numbers to take in.

Ahead of a summit on the global refugee crisis at the United Nations next week, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said a goal has been set of admitting about 30 percent more refugees in the coming fiscal year.

The administration’s target for fiscal year 2017 is 110,000 refugees, up from the 85,000 goal in 2016 and 70,000 in 2015. 

That would include approximately 40,000 people from the Near East and South Asia - a vast region that includes Syria.

Now in its sixth year, the war in Syria has displaced nine million people, while more than four million have fled to neighbouring countries. The United States has committed to resettling 10,000 Syrians this year, an issue that has inflamed the 2016 presidential election race.