Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the (a) number of resettlement places that EU member states are offering Syrian refugees and (b) EU's response to other aspects of the Syrian refugee crisis.

The UK Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict in Syria are the most effective ways for the UK to help the majority of refugees, rather than increasing resettlement. That is why the UK has donated £700 million to support refugees in the region, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the USA. We have made our position on this clear in relevant discussions with other EU Member States. EU Member States have responded to the crisis in different ways; it is right that the international community should consider all available means to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people.