US to accept tens of thousands more refugees

The United States will increase the number of refugees it takes in by 15,000 over each of the next two years, bringing the total to 100,000 in 2017, John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has said.

The US will accept 85,000 refugees from around the world next year, up from 70,000, Kerry said at a news conference on Sunday with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, after they discussed the mass migration of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war.

Many, though not all, of the additional refugees would be Syrian, American officials have said. Others would come from strife-torn areas of Africa.

The White House had previously announced it intended to take in another 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year.

Kerry did not say how many of the additional refugees would be from Syria but said that the US was ready to help.

"In consultation with Congress, we will continue to explore ways to increase those figures while maintaining robust security," Kerry told a news conference after meeting Steinmeier.

"The need is enormous, but we are determined to answer the call."...
  aljazeera.com
21/9/15
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