David Cameron today vowed that Britain will take 'thousands' more refugees as he promised to 'fulfil our moral responsibilities'.

The Prime Minister ordered a review of the country's policy on accepting asylum seekers from north Africa, and an announcement on details is expected within days.

The UK is unlikely to sign up to a Brussels plan which emerged today for 160,000 people to be dispersed across the European Union.

But Downing Street has been stung by criticism that Mr Cameron was 'shaming the country' with his refusal to increase the UK's commitment.

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David Cameron today sought to quell public outrage over the refugee crisis with a promise to 'fulfil our moral responsibilities'

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Britain has opted out of UN and EU schemes that could mean accepting tens of thousands more asylum seekers, with the focus on spending aid money in the war torn countries from which people are fleeing.

Mr Cameron argues that opening the door to more refugees is not the answer to the crisis triggered by tens of thousands of people massing in Greece, Italy and Hungary.

But he signalled that senior ministers are now looking at options to increase the number of refugees able to resettle in Britain.

Mr Cameron said: 'We are taking thousands of refugees and we have always done that as a country – running our asylum system properly and giving a proper welcome to people and helping them when they come here.

'We keep it under review. We work with our partners. We are taking thousands of people and we will take thousands of people. What matters is when they come they get a proper welcome and we look after them.'

Public calls for the UK to offer more help has mounted after harrowing images emerged of five-year-old Galip Kurdi and his brother Aylan, 3, who drowned after their dinghy capsized while attempting to cross from Syria to the Greek island of Kos.

Mr Cameron said he was 'deeply moved' by the pictures but refused to spell out plans for an increased offer of more refugee places.

The Prime Minister told reporters: 'Anyone who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as a father, I felt deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey.

'Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfil our moral responsibilities.

'I would say the people responsible for these terrible scenes we see the people most responsible are President Assad in Syria and the butchers of ISIL and the criminal gangs who are running this terrible trade in people.'

Mr Cameron's remarks were echoed by Chancellor George Osborne, who said Britain had already taken in 5,000 asylum seekers fleeing the war in Syria and would 'go on taking people'

It comes after Mr Cameron has come under pressure from within the Conservative party, as well as political opponents, church leaders and foreign leaders to do more.

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond said Mr Cameron was 'shaming the country' over the crisis. He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'When people, human beings, see other human beings in distress, when we see pictures of young toddlers lying dead on a beach, then the natural human instinct is to help.

'David Cameron's natural instinct is to walk by on the other side and that's why he's shaming the country.'

Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfil our moral responsibilities Prime Minister David Cameron

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby today said the migrant emergency is a 'wicked crisis'.

He added: 'My heart is broken by the images and stories of men, women and children who have risked their lives to escape conflict, violence and persecution.

‘This is a hugely complex and wicked crisis that underlines our human frailty and the fragility of our political systems,’ he added. ‘We must respond with compassion.’

Labour's acting leader Harriet Harman said it was 'deplorable' that the government was 'putting its head in the sand and showing itself to be heartless and out of touch'.

'We are all proud of Britain's historical role of offering a sanctuary to those fleeing conflict and persecution,' she wrote in a letter to the PM.

'We are an outward-facing, generous-hearted nation, not one that turns inward and shirks its responsibilities. I know you will not want to be the Prime Minister of a Government that fails to offer sanctuary while our neighbours are stepping up to respond.

'I strongly support the Government's continued aid for the refugee camps in the region and agree with you that we need much tougher action against people trafficking, but it is clear now that we also have a moral duty to act to take in more of these people and help them to rebuild their lives.'

The human cost: One thousand miles away, a policeman on a Turkish beach had to gently recover the bodies of two brothers drowned as their family tried to make their way to the Greek island of Kos yesterday

Devastating: The two boys' mother also drowned in one of the most harrowing episodes of the migrant crisis

HOW UK'S ASYLUM SYSTEM WORKS It would be easy to think from some of the attacks in recent days that Britain refuses to accept any refugees. In fact, since early 2011 the UK has granted asylum to almost 5,000 Syrians. To claim asylum in the UK, a person has to be in the country. Last year some 32,344 adults and their dependants from around the world applied in 2014, the highest annual number since 2004. In the first quarter of 2015, the figure was 7,435. Genuine refugees are expected to seek asylum in the first safe country to arrive in. However, it can be difficult for people from the most dangerous parts of the world to reach the UK. Under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme, refugees can apply to be resettled in the UK by being transferred from Syria. A total of 216 people have been resettled under scheme so far. Advertisement

Mr Cameron's remarks were echoed by Chancellor George Osborne, who said Britain had already taken in 5,000 asylum seekers fleeing the war in Syria and would 'go on taking people'. He added that Britain's closed-door refugee policy was 'under review'.

He said Britain would continue sending aid to the Middle East to help Syrian refugees trapped in camps.

He said: 'You have got to make sure the aid keeps coming – we put £1billion of overseas aid in to help these desperate people.'

But he added: 'Of course Britain has always been a home to real asylum seekers, genuine refugees. We have taken 5,000 people from the Syrian conflict.

'We will go on taking more and keep it under review. Britain has been playing a leading role and it will continue to do so.'

It came after Brussels drew up an emergency plan relocate 160,000 refugees across the EU. However, Britain has opted out of the scheme is not obliged to accept a single extra migrant.

Under the new scheme, migrants stranded in Italy, Greece and Hungary will be transferred to countries across the EU based on their population and economic wealth.

It will see Germany granting asylum to 35,000 refugees, France accepting 26,000 and Spain 16,000.

Even poverty-stricken Bulgaria and Romania will be expected to take thousands of families.

However, the UK – which refused to join the scheme when it was originally set up in May – will not have to take in any refugees despite being one of the largest and wealthiest countries in the EU.

If the UK were to take the same share as the rest of the EU it would be expected to grant asylum to around 17,000 refugees - or 11 per cent of the total number.

According to today's leaked EU document there are 54,000 asylum seekers in Hungary 39,600 in Italy, 66,400 in Greece.

Migrants board a train at Keleti Railway Station in Budapest today as plans emerged to relocate refugees across the EU

Around 2,000 migrants from Syria have been forced to sleep near the Keleti railway station in Budapest

PUBLIC PETITION FORCES DEBATE ON TAKING MORE REFUGEES More than 100,000 people have backed a petition calling for Britain to accept more refugees, triggering a debate in Parliament. At one point five people per second were backing the e-petition, urging the government to 'accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK'. The petition adds: 'There is a global refugee crisis. The UK is not offering proportional asylum in comparison with European counterparts. 'We can't allow refugees who have risked their lives to escape horrendous conflict and violence to be left living in dire, unsafe and inhumane conditions in Europe. We must help.' By 10.30am it had passed the 100,000 threshold for it to be considered for a debate in Parliament. Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham called for MPs to debate whether the UK should take in more refugees when Parliament returns next week. 'David Cameron cannot continue to turn his back on the crisis. It is time for him to show leadership and restore Britain's reputation as a country that has always provided refuge to the vulnerable,' he said. Advertisement

Diplomatic pressure on Mr Cameron is grown in recent days, with Germany and Austria accusing the British PM of behaving like it is 'out of the club in this big task of sharing the burden'.

Some Conservative MPs, peers and donors today publicly called on Mr Cameron to offer sanctuary to 'not hundreds but thousands' of refugees.

Tory MP Jeremy Lefroy told MailOnline: 'We are talking about refugees, people fleeing for their lives. We should be doing more.

'We need to work with local communities up and down the country. The British people are very generous and which to provide help and support.'

The MP for Stafford said the UK government had already done more than any other European country to provide humanitarian help but it was 'not a question of either or', and refugees should be sent to parts of the country best able to support them.

YVETTE'S SELFIE BRIGADE Yvette Cooper has written to all MPs urging them to take a selfie proclaiming that they would welcome more refugees in Britain. The Labour leadership candidate made her move after rival Andy Burnham appeared to claim credit for being the first of the contenders to call for the UK to grant more Syrians asylum. In her letter, the shadow home secretary told MPs the situation ‘transcends’ party politics and the Labour leadership race. She added: ‘We are writing to you now to encourage you to ... take a selfie with a #refugeeswelcome banner and put it on Twitter and Facebook, encouraging others to do the same.’ Advertisement

David Burrowes, the Tory MP for Enfield, said Britain had taken a lead in providing a humanitarian and military response in north Africa but that had to be matched by a 'refuge response'.

'We have got a voluntary resettlement programme but at the moment it is in the numbers of the hundreds compared to other countries where it's thousands,' he told MailOnline.

'Part of the answer is we should not be taking hundreds as we are at the moment but thousands.

'We are open to criticism that we are not taking our fair share but also from our own point of view, I think it makes compassionate sense just to do more.'

Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling, wrote on Twitter: 'I've spoken to many in West Kent who want us to do more and I agree with them. Our common humanity demands action at home and abroad.'

Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, added: 'We r nothing without compassion. Pic should make us all ashamed. We have failed in Syria. I am sorry little angel,RIP.'

Johnny Mercer, the Tory MP for Plymouth Moor View, told The Times: 'We have always led the world in looking after people who can't look after themselves.'

Tory MP Nicola Blackwood posted on Twitter: 'Britain has a proud history of giving sanctuary to those fleeing conflict & protecting the persecuted.

'We cannot be the generation that fails this test of humanity. We must do all we can.'

Fellow Conservative Chris Heaton Harris said the UK had 'always helped refugees fleeing war zones and we should now'.

EU leaders have drawn up a plan to relocate 160,000 refugees around the Continent – but Britain will remain exempt from taking any

Tory MP David Burrowes (left) said Britain had taken a lead in providing a humanitarian and military response in north Africa but that had to be matched by a 'refuge response'. Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, said Britain was 'nothing without compassion'

100 MIGRANT CHILDREN TAKEN INTO CARE IN KENT IN JUST A MONTH The number of migrant children entering Britain has continued to surge with 100 youngsters taken into care in Kent in just one month alone. Figures show that 720 unaccompanied children seeking asylum are being looked after by Kent County Council, up from 630 at the beginning of August. In comparison, the local authority was supporting around 220 unaccompanied asylum seeking children under the age of 18 in March last year, which rose to 369 in March of this year. The latest figures come after the council said last month it had no more foster beds available for children. The huge surge in the numbers of unaccompanied children seeking asylum comes amid this summer's turmoil in Calais, leaving Kent County Council with a multi-million pound funding gap in care costs. Advertisement

However, other Tory MPs backed the Prime Minister's stance. Gary Streeter said: 'The reality is that taking more refugees is not going to solve the problem.

'What I am frustrated about is that collectively, whether it is the European Union or the UN or even the US, I don't think we are doing enough to tackle the root problem - we have got to stop people getting on the boats or the trains.'

Former Conservative International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said that the UK was providing an 'immense amount of humanitarian support' to countries such as Syria.

'Were Britain not providing that support, there would be yet more hundreds of thousands of people coming out of that part of the world'

He added that the UK had done 'more than the whole of the EU put together in terms of financial support'.

But Tory MP Andrew Percy said his constituents were not clamouring to accept more refugees, tweeting: ‘It is incredible comparing the media coverage of the migrant crisis with the emails I am receiving from constituents.’ Meanwhile, tension was also mounting across Europe as Brussels was accused of turning the Mediterranean into a ‘cemetery’ for refugees.

Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan accused EU states of being responsible for the death of every single victim of the crisis, saying: ‘European countries, which turned the Mediterranean Sea – the cradle of ancient civilisations – into a migrant cemetery are party to the crime that takes place when each refugee loses their life.’

Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, attacked Britain specifically for doing ‘much less’ than other countries to ease the crisis.

Last night, as the numbers crossing into Germany reached nearly 150 per hour, it asked Italy to impose identification checks at Brennero, on the border with Austria, to ease the flow.

An unprecedented surge of migrants has been trying to get to the country after Berlin last week began accepting asylum claims from Syrian refugees regardless of where they entered the EU.

It has caused chaos across eastern Europe as authorities have struggled to cope with the vast numbers who, as undocumented migrants, are theoretically barred from travelling across the EU. Figures released yesterday showed a record 104,460 asylum seekers arrived in Germany last month.

Italian minister for European affairs Sandro Gozi suggested Mr Cameron risks losing support for his plans to curb benefits for migrants.

Mr Gozi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It is clear that in front of this mess, in front of this particularly serious crisis, we would welcome that every country take on more responsibility.

'When it comes to the UK, the UK has a special status but if you have a special status you cannot seek to shape policy in which you don't want to participate.'

Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper has suggested that it should be possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum

JUNCKER'S REFUGEE RELOCATION SCHEME EXPLAINED EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker wants 160,000 refugees relocated across the continent European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is set to propose a big increase in the number of refugees EU countries are required to give refuge to. In July, Mr Juncker called on European leaders to agree to share 40,000 refugees who had successfully made it to Italy and Greece. EU leaders eventually agreed to relocate 32,000 asylum seekers across the continent – but only those from Syria, Iraq and Eritrea. The number of refugees per country was calculated based on population, economic wealth and unemployment rates. Mr Juncker now wants the asylum scheme to be expanded to help relocate 160,000 refugees from three countries - Greece, Italy and Hungary. The new proposals include a 'permanent relocation scheme' so arriving migrants are automatically shared out between EU states. However, the UK, Ireland and Denmark opted out of the scheme when it was first set up. Advertisement

Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative on international migration, said while some countries were 'massively bearing the burden' of the migrant crisis, the UK was among those that 'can do more'.

Conservative donor Sir Mick Davis said Britain must not 'shut itself off' from modern crises.

Tory former foreign office minister Baroness Warsi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We have to be prepared to share the burden.

'This is not about having an open door policy, this is about having quite a specific responsive policy in the areas for example that we have expertise (in).

'Unaccompanied minors, women fleeing from sexual violence, for example territories held by Isis.

'These are areas upon which we have both expertise and an international reputation and I think Britain has always been a generous, open, welcoming country and we must not allow a political climate of today to step away from that proud tradition.'

Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper has suggested that it should be possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum.

She said: 'It is heartbreaking what is happening on our continent. We cannot keep turning our backs on this. We can - and must - do more. If every area in the UK took just ten families, we could offer sanctuary to 10,000 refugees. Let's not look back with shame at our inaction.'

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the Government's refusal to take more than a few hundred refugees was 'morally wrong' and 'politically foolish' while Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: 'We must do more.'

Amid signs that EU leaders were losing control of the crisis, Germany was yesterday forced to ask Italy to impose identification checks at Brennero, on the border with Austria, sparking claims that free movement is on the brink of collapse.