Migrant crisis: David Cameron to set out UK plan for refugees
UK to accept 20,000 refugees from Syria by 2020
(about 2 hours later)
David Cameron will set out details of government plans to resettle more refugees from Syria, as France says it will take 24,000.
The UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years, David Cameron has told MPs.
The prime minister has not yet said how many people the UK will accept but the total is likely to be more than 10,000.
The prime minister said the UK had a "moral responsibility" to resettle refugees living in camps bordering Syria while also doing all it can to end the conflict in the country.
He has said the refugees will come from camps bordering Syria rather than from among those already in Europe.
The government has said the international aid budget will be used to help councils house people.
On Sunday Chancellor George Osborne said the international aid budget would be used to help councils house people.
France earlier announced that it would take in 24,000 refugees.
The prime minister is also expected to touch on Syria and make a counter-terrorism announcement in a Commons statement, at 1530 BST.
European countries are dealing with a surge of people fleeing the Middle East and other regions, particularly from Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea.
About 18,000 asylum seekers arrived in Germany over the weekend after an agreement with Austria and Hungary to relax asylum rules.
French President Francois Hollande has said France is ready to take in 24,000 people, as part of EU plans to welcome more than 100,000 refugees in the next two years.
Germany has said it will release billions of euros to help federal states and municipalities cope with the record numbers of migrants.
The UK has said it will not participate in a proposed mandatory EU programme to resettle migrants, and Mr Cameron has said more must be done to stabilise their countries of origin instead.
However, calls for the UK to take in more refugees intensified after the publication of a picture of the body of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach.
Humanitarian protection
A petition calling for Britain to take more refugees has received more than 420,000 signatures - although a petition saying no more immigrants should be allowed into the UK has received more than 82,000 signatures.
And MPs from all parties are taking part in a vigil in Parliament for victims of the Syrian conflict ahead of Mr Cameron's statement.
On Friday, the prime minister said Britain would take refugees directly from the camps in countries bordering Syria - avoiding the need for them to put themselves in the hands of people traffickers.
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said Downing Street was not releasing a figure in advance of Mr Cameron's statement but the PM would be more specific than in recent days - when he has talked of "thousands" being given refuge.
It is expected, he added, there will be a significant focus on children and orphans in a deliberate echo of the Kinder Transport scheme carried out by Britain during World War Two to rescue Jewish children.
There has been criticism of the PM's approach, with several Conservative MPs calling for more action and some political opponents saying his offer so far does not go far enough.
Yvette Cooper, the Labour leadership candidate and shadow home secretary, said on Monday that allowing 10,000 to 15,000 migrants settle in the UK would be "really helpful".
Although it has not been confirmed, it is expected Mr Cameron's plan involves expanding the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme - under which 216 Syrians have been brought to the UK since March 2014.
Call for safe zones
People brought to Britain under VPR have been granted Humanitarian Protection, a status normally used for people who "don't qualify for asylum" but would be at "real risk of suffering serious harm" in their home country.
They can stay for five years, have the right to work and access public funds. After five years they can apply to settle in the UK.
Analysis by BBC News Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg
Ministers are loathe to do anything that makes the UK appear a more attractive destination for migrants - one said to me if the UK sends out a signal it's easy to come "more people will die in the water".
There has been a public outpouring of sympathy in the past few days. But that may well not last, and voters' appetite for large numbers of new arrivals is unlikely to be strong. Particularly when councils are already warning that they'd struggle to cope with the costs.
And remember, this government has already used up significant amounts of political capital promising to get immigration down, missing its own target again and again, but continuing to stick by it.
Read more from Laura
Mr Osborne has sought to reassure Conservative MPs concerned about the costs of taking in refugees, saying funds would be channelled from the international aid budget to local councils to pay for housing and other services.
He also said ministers should make the argument for taking military action against Islamic State militants in Syria but that Parliament would not be asked to back such a move unless there was cross-party support.
Former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has said British troops could be deployed to enforce safe havens in Syria under a United Nations mandate, saying more must be done on the ground to stop the "slaughter" of Syrian civilians.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Russia and Iran should be encouraged to "lean on" the Assad regime in Syria to agree to two safe zones near the Turkish and Jordanian borders.
While these areas should "ideally" be policed by troops from countries in the region, British involvement - as part of an international force - should not be ruled out, he said.
You can follow coverage of Mr Cameron's statement at 15.30 BST on the BBC News Channel, BBC Radio 5Live,BBC Parliament and BBC Democracy Live.
Have you been involved in resettling Syrians in the UK? Have you helped refugees in the UK? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience.
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