David Cameron has announced that Britain will take in "thousands more" Syrian refugees after an outpouring of public support for the UK to accept its fair share of those fleeing persecution. The Prime Minister, speaking after a meeting with the Portuguese Prime Minister in Lisbon, said Britain "will act with our head and our heart" to help solve the growing humanitarian crisis stemming from the four-year civil war in Syria. It has led to four million Syrians fleeing the country and risking their lives by crossing the Mediterranean as they seek sanctuary in Europe. The announcement this morning came after politicians of all parties and more than 250,000 ordinary Britons signed an Independent petition demanding he abandon his stance after the publication of horrifying photos of Aylan Kurdi, a dead Syrian boy who washed up on a Turkish beach. Mr Cameron said Britain will continue its approach of taking in refugees from the camps in the countries surrounding Syria, where the vast majority of the four million displaced are located. It means the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have made it to Europe will not be relocated to Britain. He said taking refugees from camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey would help discourage refugees from taking the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean and would also help in the battle against illegal human traffic smugglers who are providing the hazardous routes to Europe. However Mr Cameron failed to give any details on the exact number of places the UK would offer or where he intends to locate them, promising only to set out the details next week. Announcing his shift in stance, he said: "Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the people, today I can announce that we will do more – providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees. "We will continue with our approach of taking them from the refugee camps. This provides them with a more direct and safe route to the UK, rather than risking the hazardous journey which has tragically cost so many lives. "We will discuss how best to design these schemes and the numbers we will take with NGOs and our partners. We will set out more details next week." He added: "Britain will act with our head and our heart, providing refuge for those in need while working on long term solutions to this crisis. "As I said earlier in the week, that means bringing to an end to the conflicts that are driving so many to flee, including the bloodbath that has engulfed Syria." His words were welcomed from those who have led the public's call for action, including Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, who has called for the UK to accept up to 10,000 refugees from Syria, but she insisted that the Prime Minister must be kept under pressure. Ms Cooper has suggested that this figure can be achieved by each town in the UK and each London borough accepting 10 families each. Not all were completely convinced by Mr Cameron's words, however. The author Bonnie Greer took to Twitter to mock the "great news from sun-tanned PM," who she described as "bewildered & out-of-touch". Read David Cameron's full statement on the refugee crisis below: Turning to migration, this is clearly the biggest challenge facing countries across Europe today. In the first six months of this year, more than 220,000 people were detected crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. And in July alone, over 100,000 people made this journey, three times higher than the number last year. These people come from different countries and different circumstances. We know that many are Syrians fleeing the conflict that has raged across their country, that has killed over 220,000 and has forced more than 11 million people to flee their homes. They now face two enemies at home - Assad and ISIL. Britain has a moral responsibility to help refugees as we have done throughout our history. We are already are providing sanctuary and we will continue to do so. As the second largest bilateral donor to the crisis, we have provided over £900 million in aid to help those affected in Syria and the region – we have funded shelter, food, water and vital medical supplies for millions of desperate refugees fleeing the conflict and helping them to survive in the countries around Syria, like Jordan and Lebanon. No European country has done more than Britain in this regard. Were it not for that massive aid, the numbers making the perilous journey to Europe today would be even higher. Now we have already accepted around 5000 Syrians and have introduced a specific resettlement scheme, alongside those we already have, to help those Syrian refugees particularly at risk. As I said earlier this week, we will accept thousands more under these existing schemes and we keep them under review. And given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the people, today I can announce that we will do more – providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees. We will continue with our approach of taking them from the refugee camps. This provides them with a more direct and safe route to the UK, rather than risking the hazardous journey which has tragically cost so many lives. We will discuss how best to design these schemes and the numbers we will take with NGOs and our partners. We will set out more details next week. Alongside this, Britain will continue to work with partners to tackle the conflict in Syria, to provide support to the region, to go after the smuggling gangs exploiting these people and to save lives at sea. HMS Enterprise remains in the Mediterranean alongside the Border Force cutters and together with HMS Bulwark, they have now rescued more than 6700 people. Britain will act with our head and our heart, providing refuge for those in need while working on long term solutions to this crisis. As I said earlier in the week, that means bringing to an end to the conflicts that are driving so many to flee, including the bloodbath that has engulfed Syria.
