Bowing to mounting political and social pressure, David Cameron has said that the UK will fulfil its moral duty to aid more refugees fleeing jihadists in war-torn Syria.
David Cameron
More than 350,000 migrants are known to have entered the EU between January and August this year, compared with 280,000 for the whole of 2014, and this does not include those who entered undetected.
On Wednesday, the PM stated that the crisis would not be solved by taking "more and more people", but instead by focusing on bringing "peace and stability" to the volatile region.
However, outrage at the UK's policies increased noticeably on Thursday, after the world was shocked by a photograph of a three-year-old Syrian boy found drowned on a beach in Turkey.
WARNING - Upsetting footage
Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon was one of many to criticise the "walk-on-by" attitude of the UK government, and an online petition calling on the UK to accept more refugees was quickly signed by more than 100,000 people.
Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative on international migration, told Sky News that the UK can "do more": "This is a humanitarian crisis that Europe has not experienced in our time, of a dimension which demands a common response."
Mr Cameron is reported to have spent much of Thursday in talks with his advisers, discussing how to respond to the changing public mood and address the refugee crisis.
The Prime Minister told Sky News: "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."