Syrian Refugee Crisis: US to Bring 10,000 Refugees Next Year

The United States will bring in more refugees next year, as European countries face an overflow of people fleeing the Middle East and Africa. The government announced on Thursday it would bring in 10,000 refugees.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. government initially announced it was prepared to bring in at least 5,000 by next year, since other countries are struggling to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress that the U.S. will boost its worldwide quota for resettling refugees from 70,000 to 75,000. The secretary of state made the announcement in a private meeting on Wednesday.

"We are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe. That's being vetted fully right now," Kerry said.

Two officials and a congressional aide gave an anonymous tip about the meeting while it is not clear exactly how many refugees the U.S. is planning to add to its national quota. The source did say that a fraction of the new refugees will be accepted from Syria.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., urged for President Barack Obama to show stronger support for the violence in the Middle East and Africa after 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body was found along with his mother and 5-year-old brother.

The family drowned after their small rubber boat turned over while they were sailing to Greece.

"This image has haunted the world," McCain said. "But what should haunt us even more than the horror unfolding before our eyes is the thought that the United States will continue to do nothing meaningful about it."

Since then, Obama has ordered his administration to prepare to accept at least 10,000 more refugees, CNN reported according to a White House announcement on Thursday.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi criticized the initial amount of 5,000 additional refugees calling it a "far too low" figure.

A Senate aide added that Kerry gave a range of numbers during his meeting including the possibility of accepting up to 100,000 refugees.