US prepares to take in 10,000 refugees

The White House has already taken in 1,500 Syrian refugees since 2011, a small number critics say [Xinhua]

The White House announced on Thursday that it is preparing to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year, but human rights groups say that number is too low.

By October 2015, the US will have admitted only 1,800 refugees since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011.

The White House announcement comes after Germany took in 20,000 refugees last week alone.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spearheaded efforts to welcome and integrate hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Iraqi refugees who have fled the bloodshed in their countries.

On Thursday, she visited an immigration center and school for refugees in Berlin.

She told reporters that she would work to speed up the asylum process.

“Over the next few months, we want as many people as possible to receive a decision on an approved residency status and then have the possibility to be put into contact [with the work market],” she said.

Germany announced that it would take in more than 800,000 refugees this year.

The refugee crisis first came to the fore last April when a boat carrying desperate families from a number of nations capsized off the coast of Libya.

But it wasn’t until the horrific images of refugee children washed up on European and Turkish shores that the international community began to move en masse to pressure governments to accept tens of thousands into Europe.

The UK has said it would resettle some 20,000 refugees over the next four years.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said her country welcomes Syrian refugees.

“I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the government’s willingness to receive those who, having been expelled from their place of origin, want to come here to work and contribute to Brazil’s peace and prosperity,” Rousseff said. Syrians are the largest refugee group in Brazil.

Since the 2011 Syrian Civil War, Brazil has accepted only 2,000 refugees.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies