David Cameron has been warned he may miss his target to accept 4,000 Syrian refugees this year after rejecting offers of accommodation from members of the public and politicians like Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister was among those who said that they would be prepared to give those fleeing the conflict a room.
But the Conservative Government balked at the idea, citing potential risks.
Now MPs have warned that such accommodation could be "essential" to plans to take 20,000 refugees by 2020.
Members of the Commons Home Affairs Committee pointed out that in the last 10 years no more than 1,039 have been resettled in the UK in any one year.
They called on Tory ministers to rethink the issue in a new report published today.
Keith Vaz, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said: “The pledge to resettle 4,000 a year is the equivalent of 333 people a month, almost 400 per cent more than the highest recorded figure.
"This is a huge change in the scale of refugee resettlement undertaken by the UK and we are concerned about our real level of preparedness and ability to increase capacity to manage such numbers at short notice."
Offers of private accommodation would be viable and could even be an “essential” part of taking 20,000 refugees, he said.
Without the extra rooms there would be “bottlenecks” which could slow down the numbers coming to the UK, the report predicts.
MPs also hit out at ministers refusal to tell them how many people have already arrived from Syria, despite admitting that they know the figure.
MPs also denounced as “unacceptable” signs that children were still being held in detention, despite pledges to outlaw the practice.
The current backlog of immigration cases in the UK stands at 318,159.
Over the summer both Ms Sturgeon and the then Labour leadership hopeful Yvette Cooper indicated that they would be prepared to house Syrian refugees.
The SNP leader said that she would be “absolutely happy” to take a refugee fleeing war and persecution in Syria.
Meanwhile, it emerged that refugees will have their protected status withdrawn if their home countries become safe again.
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire confirmed the changes first outlined by Home Secretary Theresa May to the Conservative Party conference earlier this month.
Extremists will also be stripped of their refugee status if they threaten national security.
In a written ministerial statement, Mr Brokenshire said: "The rules are being changed to make clear the circumstances in which we can withdraw refugee status and leave.
"The changes clarify terminology and make clear that refugee status can be withdrawn where evidence emerges that such status was obtained by deception or where it is clear that protection is no longer needed.
"It can also be withdrawn where someone commits a serious crime or is a considered a danger to our national security such that they do not deserve our protection and all the benefits that come with that status.
"Existing provisions on the revocation of refugee status are also being extended to include those who instigate or otherwise participate in acts covered by Article 1F of theRefugee Convention, including those who engage in extremist activities that represent a threat to our national security."
European Union nationals (EU) will also no longer be able to claim asylum except in exceptional circumstances - although relatively few currently apply.
Mr Brokenshire said: "This goes beyond our international obligations and there is provision under EU law to treat claims from EU nationals as inadmissible on the basis that Members States are deemed to be safe countries."
In addition, English language requirements for settlement and citizenship in the UK which were announced in March are also being incorporated into the rules.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel