The Obama administration has changed its tone toward the refugee crisis in Europe and announced that it is now opening the door to the possibility of allowing more Syrian refugees into the United States.

"The administration is actively considering a range of approaches to be more responsive to the global refugee crisis, including with regard to refugee resettlement," Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Monday, according to USA Today.

He added that the Obama administration is "actively considering" ways to be more responsive to the global migrant crisis.

The statement is a stark departure from the response issued by the White House late last week. While talking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged the "terrible humanitarian tragedy that's unfolding in the Middle East," but noted that there has been no change in the resettlement policy to allow more refugees to seek asylum in the U.S.

"I'm not aware of any impending policy change as it relates to immigrants from that region of the world entering the United States," he said.

Although the new statement indicates that the resettlement policy is up for negotiation, the White House did not suggest any time frame for a decision.

The new White House statement comes days after a heart-wrenching photo of a two-year-old Syrian boy, who drowned while trying to migrate to Europe, went viral and garnered worldwide attention for the current crisis. The image of the boy's body, which washed up on a Turkish beach, is symbolic of the desperation and danger that hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East and Africa face as they flee persecution, war and other hardships.

According to the United Nations (U.N.) refugee agency, over 300,000 refugees have risked their lives using the dangerous Mediterranean Sea route to reach Greece and Italy from other nations this year, reports USA Today. Last year, about 219,000 people used the route in total. As a result, the agency says that about 2,600 people have died or gone missing along the route this year during this perilous journey.

The majority of the refugees are trying to escape violence and unrest in Middle Eastern and African countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sudan, Libya and Pakistan.

In response, the European Union will hold a meeting to address the rapidly growing number of refugees. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also pledged to donate $26.6 million to the U.N. refugee agency, reports CBS News.