President Obama directs U.S. to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year
President Obama has directed his administration to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year, according to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. That's a significant increase for the United States, which since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011 has only accepted about 1,500 refugees.
Compared to other nations, 10,000 is still only a fraction of help; Germany is set to take 800,000 refugees in 2015 alone, Britain is taking 20,000 refugees, and France has said it will accept a potential European Union-wide quota of 24,000. Turkey, one of the first stops for Syrians fleeing the war, has taken in over 1.9 million refugees, many of whom live in government-run camps. There have been nearly 4.1 million registered refugees since the Syrian conflict began.
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