President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that the United States will take 1,500 to 10,000 more Syrian refugees by 2016. The U.S. is facing international criticisms for not helping enough in the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

The BBC reported that even with increased quota, the number of Syrian refugees going to America still pales in comparison to the more than 300,000 Syrians that have poured into Europe this year. The U.S. government, however, has sent around $4 billion in financial aid to Syrian refugees.

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White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that the U.S. is increasing its level of commitment to help people who are currently fleeing from the fighting. Earnest noted that congress will need to authorize additional funds in order to accommodate the increased influx of Syrian refugees next year.

In Europe, Germany announced that it can accommodate around 800,00 Syrian refugees - more than half of them are already staying in the country. The United Kingdom has agreed to take in at least 20,000.

The United Nations has confirmed that the number of Syrians fleeing the war torn country has now reached 4 million. The organization is pleading with various countries to accept more than 100,000 of them for resettlement by next year.

Four months ago, President Obama received a written letter signed by more than a dozen senators, requesting him to let at least 65,000 Syrians resettle in the country. American religious organizations are requesting that their government takes in at least a 100,000 of the displaced, according to Reuters.

Earnest, however, said that the White House believes that sending financial aid is much more feasible than taking large numbers of displaced refugees in the country.

Financial aid can be used to buy basic necessities such as food and medicine as well as a roof over their heads. Refugees going to the United States will have to wait for at least a year or longer before being allowed to be integrated into American society, according to the White House spokesperson.

Several American politicians, mostly from the Republican Party, have expressed fears that some of the refugees may in fact be terrorists planning to attack the country from the inside, according to the New York Times.

TagsSyrian refugees, humanitarian aid, syrian humanitarian crisis, Barack Obama, syrian quota, resettling syrians, syrian critics, Syrian conflict, syrian war