U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Monday that Britain plans to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years. The decision comes after other countries such as Germany and France also announced plans to take in thousands of refugees.
"Britain should fulfill its moral responsibility to help those refugees just as we've done so proudly throughout our history, but by doing so we must use our head as well as our heart," Cameron said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
The prime minister however, stated the U.K. will only re-settle refugees from camps in the Middle East. The country will not accept those coming from other parts of Europe.
Cameron also stated that the refugees the country will accept will not be immediately granted full asylum status. Rather, they will be given humanitarian status that will allow them to apply for asylum after five years, reports The Huffington Post.
Critics have been quick to respond to the prime minister's announcement, stating that when spread out to five years, the country's plan is not at all impressive, especially when compared to the refugee plan of nearby nations.
France, for one, has already pledged to welcome 24,000 refugees from the Middle East within the next two years, while Germany has stated that the country is poised to accept more than 31,000 asylum-seekers.
Caroline Lucas, leader of the U.K. Green Party, said that the plan is "pitifully short of what's needed and of what British people want and expect. The U.K. should be taking more refugees, and doing so as quickly as possible."
Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, also said that in light of the situation, the announcement was "a very slim response."
Pressure to admit more Syrians has escalated lately, after images of a drowned Syrian boy went viral after his body washed up on the shores of a Turkish beach resort.
