President Obama directs U.S. to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year

Syrian passports.
(Image credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.