What is Britain doing to help resettle refugees?

The Government has announced that in "exceptional cases" Britain will take in refugee children who are in conflict zones such as Syria and have become separated from their families.

The policy is in addition to measures previously announced, so what other resettlement schemes is the UK Government involved in?

  • 20,000 Syrian refugees pledge

In September, David Cameron announced Britain will resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the course of this Parliament.

Under the scheme, refugees will be taken from camps on the Syrian borders, but not from among those already in Europe.

Later in September, the Home Office said the first Syrian refugees had arrived in the UK.

  • How does this compare to other countries?

In 2015 alone, Germany welcomed more than one million asylum seekers, while around 160,000 entered Sweden - although up to half of these may now be expelled.

European Union ministers have approved a plan to relocate 120,000 migrants across Europe, but Britain has so far resisted calls to join the scheme.

David Cameron announced Britain will resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees. Credit: PA

  • What has the reaction been to what the UK is doing to help?

There has been some criticism of the Prime Minister's pledge to welcome 20,000 refugees by 2020 from charities, religious leaders, Labourand the UN, who say Britain is not doing enough to help.

The Archbishop of Canterbury described it as a "very slim response" to the crisis, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UK "should do much more".

  • What difference will the newly-announced scheme make?

At the moment, it is not entirely clear how much of an impact the latest scheme will have.

No figure has been put on how many children will be accepted, despite calls from charities, led by Save The Children, for Britain to take in at least 3,000.

The Government has made clear youngsters who have already reached Europe will not be accepted because officials do not want to encourage more people to attempt dangerous sea crossings.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire has also said most children would be better off remaining in the region they came from so they can be re-united with any surviving family members.

Labour has called on the Government to provide more details on how the programme will work.