UK to accept 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020

ON October 29, MPs said they were unsure if the UK is prepared for the amount of Syrian refugees the government plans to accept.

According to Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz, ministers plan to take about 20,000 refugees by 2020. He said the committee was ‘concerned about our real level of preparedness and ability to increase capacity to manage such numbers at short notice,’ and the government added ‘careful planning’ was necessary to ‘ensure we get it right.’

“At no point in the recent past has the UK come near to resettling 4,000 refugees in one year,” the committee added.

According to the Home Office, 2,204 Syrian asylum seekers applied to stay in the UK in the last 12 months leading up to June 2015.

Mr Vaz said: “The generosity of the British public in offers of assistance and even space in their homes has not been accepted by ministers. This should be reconsidered. Housing is likely to be one of the most difficult issues and it may be that, properly organised and supported, offers of private accommodation will be a helpful, viable and perhaps essential part of the solution.”

The committee published an immigration report recommending that the government set exact plans on how to deal with the increasing number of refugees.