U.S. to accept 100,000 refugees per year by 2017, Sec. of State John Kerry announces

The US will accept an extra 30,000 refugees from around the world over the next two years, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday, as the Obama administration came under further pressure to take in more victims of the Syrian civil war.

Speaking as his predecessor Hillary Clinton urged America to “lead the world” in responding to the Syrian emergency, Kerry said the total number of refugees taken by the US yearly would rise from 70,000 to 85,000 next year and to 100,000 in 2017, Reuters reported.

“The need is enormous, but we are determined to answer the call,” Kerry said, during remarks in Berlin. Kerry reportedly did not say whether any of the additional refugees would be from Syria.

Earlier on Sunday, Clinton said the US should take in more than six times the 10,000 Syrian refugees that has been proposed by President Barack Obama.

“We’re facing the worst refugee crisis since the end of world war two, and I think the United States has to do more,” Clinton said on CBS. “And I would like to see us move from what is a good start with 10,000 to 65,000.”

Kerry’s predecessor as secretary of state said the US should vet applicants to prioritise welcoming the “most vulnerable” people who have fled the Syrian civil war, such as Christians and Yazidis who have faced religious persecution from Islamist militants.