U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power has called on the global community to take greater action in tackling the refugee crisis.
Speaking Wednesday at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, Power announced U.S. plans to intensify resettlement efforts to admit 30,000 more refugees in 2016 and 2017, out of 100,000 refugees overall.
As the leading donor of humanitarian aid, Power said, the United States is contributing more than $5.1 billion for the Syrian conflict alone and will continue to provide robust support.
Urging a global response to the crisis, Power said that it has stretched the world’s “humanitarian system to the breaking point and put millions of people in dire situations at even greater risk.”
"We're asking governments to commit to welcoming more refugees into their countries with the goal of doubling the number of refugee admission slots worldwide," Powers said. "We are asking front line countries who are already hosting a considerable numbers of refugees with awe inspiring generosity, to do even more, allowing the refugees they host greater opportunities to become self-reliant.
"Our aim is to put at least a million more refugee children in school, and grant a million more refugees access to legal work," she added.
Power said that "ignorance and prejudice make for bad advisers" in dealing with the worst refugee and migrant crisis since World War Two.
The official proposal will be unveiled at President Barack Obama's Refugee Summit at the United Nations in September.
According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, at the end of 2015, more than 65 million people were displaced worldwide, and over half of them were children.
