US Will Ask Countries to Double Global Number of Resettled Refugees

Washington wants other countries to double the global number of resettled refugees, according to a US State Department press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will call on other countries to do utmost to double the global number of resettled refugees at the upcoming summit in New York city in the fall 2016, the US State Department said in a press release following Secretary of States John Kerry’s announcement in Davos on Friday.

"In order to create a brighter future for some of the world’s most vulnerable people, our goal is for nations with existing legal pathways for refugee admission to make commitments that double the global number of resettled refugees and those afforded other legal channels of admission," Kerry stated.

The State Department added that those countries lacking such programs will be asked to establish them.

Kerry announced earlier in January that President Barack Obama will host a summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York to enhance aid to Syrian refugees from other countries.

The Obama administration announced last year that the United States would accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016. The United States has accepted approximately 2,100 Syrians fleeing the ongoing civil war and terrorism threats in that country.