.Prime Minister gives Commons statement on the UK's new aid effort
- .Britain will not accept refugees who have made their way to Europe
- .PM warned against help which would act as a 'magnet' to trafficking gangs
- .Instead, refugees stranded in the Middle East will be brought to the UK
- .The aid budget will be used to pay for housing refugees for up to a year
Britain is to take 20,000 Syrian refugees directly from the Middle East over the next five years, David Cameron announced today.
In a statement to MPs, the Prime Minister said the whole country had been deeply moved by 'heartbreaking' images of refugees fleeing for their lives.
The decision to open the doors to 20,000 people is double the 10,000 figure demanded by political opponents last week, but falls short of the 35,000 set to be accepted by Germany over the next two years.
David Cameron will today announce details of a plan for Britain to take thousands of Syrian refugees living in makeshift camps in north Africa
The PM insisted that the UK stands ready to help those fleeing for their lives from the Assad regime and barbaric ISIS militants.
But he rejected calls from Brussels for Britain to accept a share of the tens of thousands of people already on European soil, warning any offer of help should not act as a 'magnet' for more to make the perilous sea crossing to reach safety.
Mr Cameron told MPs that children - and particularly orphans - would be prioritised under the new scheme.
He said: 'The whole country has been deeply moved by the heartbreaking images we've seen over the past few days.
'It’s absolutely right that Britain must fulfil its moral responsibility.
'We will accept thousands more under these existing schemes
'Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the Syrian people, we are proposing that Britain should accept 20,000 refugees over the course of this Parliament
'Britain will play its part alongside our European partners. But Britain is able to decide its own approach
'We will continue with our approach of taking refugees from the camps this provides refugees with a more direct and safe route to Europe rather than risking their lives.'
Mr Cameron's offer was welcomed by Labour's acting leader Harriet Harman, but criticised for not going far enough by a raft of MPs from opposition parties.
The 20,000 set to be given refuge in the UK over the next five years was compared to the 10,000 accepted by Germany last weekend alone.
Britain is already the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to the Syria crisis in the EU, second only to the United States globally.
Mr Cameron confirmed an extra £100million on top of £920million committed to date, meaning the UK has contributed more than Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Hungary, Austria and Poland combined.
The government is emphasising its efforts will focus on helping people living in refugee camps in Syria. Syrian children play at an unofficial refugee camp in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, north of the capital Beirut
Ministers have promised to help orphaned children to start a new life in Britain under the resettlement scheme
He said Britain had provided 17 million food rations and said half of the new funding will go to children.
‘Without the aid to these camps the number risking the very dangerous trips to Europe would be very much higher,' Mr Cameron said.
In less than a week Downing Street has been forced into a major policy u-turn, after repeatedly refusing to drop its opposition to large numbers of people being given refuge in the UK.
The harrowing images of three-year-old Ayan Kurdi's body on a Turkish beach last week triggered a major public outcry and forced Mr Cameron into retreat.
Senior politicians including Labour's Yvette Cooper, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Green leader Natalie Bennett joined singer and campaigner Bob Geldof in offering to put up refugees in their own homes.
Some 2,000 people have said they would be willing to house Syrians in spare bedrooms, but council leaders have dismissed the idea as 'pie in the sky', insisting town halls need extra government funding to cope with any influx.
MPs returned to the House of Commons for the first time after their summer break today, with the issue of refugees dominating the agenda.
Mr Cameron has vowed to stand by his commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on international aid.
But he argues that the budget can be used to help with the housing and living costs of refugees for their first year in Britain.
It will mean that the UK can increase its offer to the humanitarian effort without having to make cuts to domestic budgets at a time when Chancellor George Osborne is demanding reductions of up to 40 per cent in some budgets.
However, council leaders argue that the aid money can only be used for the first year, while refugees - especially children - will add to the strain on services for many years.
The Prime Minister has made clear that refugees given help under the expanded resettlement scheme will come directly from camps in Syria and neighbouring countries, and not those who have already crossed into the European Union.
Mr Cameron and other senior ministers are concerned that signing up to an EU plan to disperse 160,000 people across the continent will encourage more people to attempt to make the perilous journey in dangerous boats.
Under the Brussels plan, migrants stranded in Italy, Greece and Hungary will be transferred to countries across the EU based on their population and economic wealth.
It will see Germany granting asylum to 35,000 refugees, France accepting 26,000 and Spain 16,000.
Even poverty-stricken Bulgaria and Romania will be expected to take thousands of families.
But Britain will use an opt-out to refuse to accept the forecast 17,000 it would be obliged to accept, instead offering to help those in camps.
French President Francois Hollande stepped up criticism of Britain today, after Asuria, Italy and Germany accused Mr Cameron of not sharing the burden of the problem.
Speaking at a press conference in Paris, Mr Hollande said: 'In Calais, there are people who are not seeking asylum in France but to go to the UK.
'People must understand that you cannot demand solidarity when there’s a problem, and shirk your duties when there are solutions.”
A survey at the weekend showed the public’s lack of enthusiasm for thousands more coming in.
The Mail on Sunday poll found nearly one in three people said Britain should not accept any Syrian migrants on top of existing asylum seekers.
One in six said Britain should take less than 1,000.
Mr Osborne has ordered a fundamental rethink of the way Britain's aid budget is used, shifting away from alleviating poverty to trying to bring stability to the Middle East.
He told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: ‘In the short-term we’re going to take more refugees, but not in a way that encourages them on to these dangerous boats.
‘In the longer term, I think we need a fundamental rethink of our aid policy, so yes, we support reducing poverty but we also direct our additional aid spending to these failed states, to this refugee crisis, to the big threats facing Britain.
‘So the question in the spending review is not just how does our aid budget help the rest of the world, but how does it help Britain’s national interest.’
Revelations about wasteful aid projects, corruption, donation to countries with their own aid budgets and even space programmes have increased public opposition to growing aid spending at a time of cuts at home.
Officials said all the additional spending over the coming years will be ringfenced for use on ‘global challenges’ such as the Syrian refugee crisis.
Mr Cameron argues that the foreign aid budget can be used to help with the housing and living costs of refugees for their first year in Britain
That could means some £1billion diverted to responding to major international crises by the end of the decade
Today a United Nations commissioner has said its humanitarian agencies are 'financially broke' as the organisation attempts to provide aid for tens of thousands of people fleeing war.
UN high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres said basic needs are not being fulfilled as he called for EU member states to fund aid in the same way they fund UN peacekeeping operations.
He warned agencies like UNHCR and Unicef could become bankrupt as they are struggling to keep up with the basic needs of millions of people who have fled Syria and are travelling towards Europe.
Mr Guterres said the number of people displaced by conflict each day has risen by 31,000 in a four-year period, placing a greater strain on resources to provide refugees with the things they need.
He told the Guardian: 'If you look at those displaced by conflict per day, in 2010 it was 11,000; last year there were 42,000.
'This means a dramatic increase in need, from shelter to water and sanitation, food, medical assistance, education.
'The budgets cannot be compared with the growth in need. Our income in 2015 will be around 10 per cent less than in 2014.
'The global humanitarian community is not broken - as a whole they are more effective than ever before. But we are financially broke.'
He said the crisis which has arisen out of Syria, where people are fleeing both President Assad's regime and Islamic State forces, must be recognised as an emergency and the aid effort funded as by assessed rather than just voluntary contributions.
Migrants walk along a dirt road after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija, Macedonia
Migrants board a train after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija, Macedonia, yesterday
Tory MP Andrew Mitchell, a former International Development Secretary, called for a 'massive effort from the international community'.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We need to create safe havens. I think there should be one on the Turkish border at Idlib and another one on the border of Jordan.
‘We need a serious effort to protect the millions of people in what is now a second world country.
‘We need to be involved in putting troops on the ground. This is a humanitarian effort. It’s important for the UN to help. We have a responsibility to protect these people.'
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