Australia to settle 500 Syrian refugees

Australia would join 16 other countries in the resettlement program driven by the UNHCR

A total of 500 Syrian refugees will be settled in Australia, announced Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison in a statement Thursday.

He said the refugees' settlement will commence in 2013-14 under the government's "strengthened humanitarian program which guarantees more resettlement places for those waiting in desperate circumstances around the world," reported Xinhua.

Australia would join 16 other countries in the resettlement program driven by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he said.

It will also continue to assist the UNHCR in the internationally coordinated response to the Syrian crisis.

Australia has so far provided more than $93.67 million in humanitarian assistance for the Syrian crisis.