The United States, which has faced criticism within and outside for its poor response to the plight of refugees fleeing the war-torn Syria, has now decided to accept at least 10,000 refugees during the new American fiscal year, beginning October 1.
A directive to the effect was issued by President Barack Obama on Thursday after reports said that since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the United States has admitted just about 1,500 refugees, while Germany has announced that it could be taking as many as 8,00,000 refugees.
Religious groups in the US have called upon the Obama administration to accept 1,00,000 Syrian refugees. A Democratic lawmaker called upon Obama to accommodate at least 65,000 refugees by the end of 2016.
Although the American numbers may be nowhere near the ones accepted by Germany and other European nations, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US has provide $4 billion in financial assistance to relief agencies working for the Syrian refugees.
“We know that it certainly is not feasible for millions of Syrians to come to this country. But what we can do is make sure that we are doing everything we can to try to provide for their basic needs,” Earnest said.
Obama lauded the Senate Democrats for rallying behind the Iran Nuclear deal, effectively killing the Republican plan to derail the pact.