How does UK refugee commitment compare with other countries? | News | The Guardian

The UK prime minister, David Cameron, announced on Monday that Britain would take 20,000 Syrian refugees over the course of this parliament. The refugees will be relocated from the camps on the borders of Syria. Here's a look at the UK's plan in context.

...It is equivalent to 0.03% of the UK's total population, and 0.4% of Britain's migrant population.

...Munich welcomed 20,000 refugees last weekend. The German city received 13,000 refugees on Sunday alone - more than the total number of asylum seekers the UK has received so far this year.

...The differences are also clear if we look at the totals on a per capita basis. The UK received 188 asylum seekers per 1 million of its population over the first six months of this year. During the same period, and on the same basis, Sweden received 2,974, Germany 2,116 and France 485.

...There are 4 million Syrian refugees displaced in the Middle East, according to UNHCR data - more than 10 times the number in Europe.

The UK's plan to relocate 20,000 of these 4 million people means that it will be relocating 0.5% of the current total over five years.

(That about 20,000 in Munich is not entirely true BTW: it wasn't the only arrival point and the arrivals have been re-distributed across the entire country.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}