Refugee services will be "stretched" as 750 Syrians are resettled in New Zealand over the next two and a half years.

The Government relented in the face of a public backlash and has agreed to open the borders to an extra 600 people fleeing war in Syria. A further 150 Syrians will be welcomed as part of of an existing annual intake of 750 refugees.

The emergency package - in response to a tide of refugees fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa - will cost around $50m. Prime Minister John Key says that's about all the country can cope with, for the time being.

REUTERS Syrian refugees in Budapest, Hungary.

"The official advice I've had is that what we are doing is already stretching the system," Key said. "It is proportionate to what we are capable of handling easily."

The Government is also likely to avail of offers of help from churches and community organisations. "We have actually got to be able to house people, to give them services, to do of those things. I personally think you have got to do these things professionally...if the [churches] say they have got capacity an are wanting to help we'll be taking up that offer."

A week ago, Key told media the Government would not offer sanctuary to any more refugees. But an outpouring of public sympathy followed the publication of a photograph of drowned toddler Aylan Kurdi last week. "Most people's hearts melt when they see those type of pictures," Key said.

"I think we have seen lots of countries actually reflect on that. The United Kingdom over the weekend made a change, I think Australia is looking to take more people. My view is that New Zealand is generous when it comes to refugees," he said.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse announced the emergency package. A review of the quota - which hasn't lifted in three decades - will still take place in mid-2016.

The UN Hight Commissioner for Refugees screens and selects refugees. Immigration New Zealand officials will travel to Lebanon next month and then again in December. The first 100 refugees will begin arriving in January next year, and then again in March and May.

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They will be given permanent residence visas and spend their first six weeks at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre. Red Cross provides a year of support on behalf of INZ, which includes an orientation programme and English language tuition and help with employment and education.

Most of the refugees will be homed by Housing New Zealand, and the bulk will come to Wellington where there is already a large Syrian community. Key says each refugee costs around $81,000 and total spending will be between $75-80m per year.

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Foreign Minister Murray McCully also pledged an extra $4.5m in humanitarian aid to those affected by violence the Middle East, taking New Zealand's contribution to $20m. It comes as the UNHCR warned its agencies are on the brink of bankruptcy and are struggling to meet the basic needs of refugees streaming across Europe.

The new measures aren't enough to win over the Greens. The party will press ahead with plans to table a bill on Tuesday to increase the annual quota to 1000.

"This year we gave $11 million to a Saudi businessman who was annoyed with us," co-leader James Shaw said. "We spent a similar amount of money on an apartment in New York. We're spending $26m on a troop deployment in Iraq. So it is a matter of prioritisation."

National has already said it will block the legislation.

Labour leader Andrew Little said his party will no longer put forward a bill which would allow for an extra 750 refugees. "This isn't about game playing and point scoring," he said.

He believes the country could have supported an extra 750 in the next year "at a stretch."

"It's disappointing that it's going to be a much slower intake," he added.

United Future leader Peter Dunne welcomed the package, but called on local communities to step up. He wants an urgent taskforce to help with resettlement.

Amnesty - which has campaigned for years to lift the quota - welcomed the "life-saving" step that will make a "genuine difference" to 750 people.

However, executive director Grant Bayldon called on the Government to immediately bring forward the quota review.

"At 90th in the world on per capita intake of refugees, New Zealand is well out of step with all its major allies. As well as the emergency intake the government has announced, we need to see a permanent increase," he said.

"The government should be asking how much, not how little, we can do to help save innocent lives. Doubling our refugee quota is the least we can do after 28 years without an increase."

An umbrella group of humanitarian aid agrees the quota should double, regardless of Monday's announcement.

NGO Disaster Relief Forum chair Ian McInnes said the numbers of displaced are at "unprecedented levels" and will remain so for some time.

"It's a shame that it has taken the well-publicised photo and story of a death of a child on a beach to wake us up to the desperation of refugees...Per head of population, we lag well behind many countries, including Australia whose ratio is three times as high," he said.

Anglican Bishop of Wellington Right Reverend Justin Duckworth said congregations across the lower North Island have offered to house and financially support 40 families – approximately 160 people

"As a country we have been criticised for not doing enough to respond to the refugee crisis. We want to say loudly and clearly, as the Anglican Church of New Zealand, that we are prepared to help in a practical way. If resources are the limiting factor in our government's decision over what level to increase the quota by, we are committing to take over the wellbeing and support of 40 families," he said.

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