Rich countries 'have failed' to take in their fair share of Syrian refugees, Oxfam report claims

"Rich countries" should take in 10 per cent, or about half a million, Syrian refugees by the end of the year, Oxfam has said after research found that they had only taken in less than the 1.5 per cent of those displaced by the war.

The conflict in Syria has already forced more than 4.6 million Syrians to flee the country, while about 6.5 million people have been uprooted inside the war-torn country. Of those refugees, 2.2 million are being housed by Turkey, 1.1 million are in Lebanon, 633,000 in Jordan, 245,000 in Iraq, and 128,000 in Egypt, according to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency.

In Lebanon, one in five inhabitants is a Syrian refugee. In Jordan, they constitute 10 per cent of the population, and the fourth largest 'city' is a refugee camp.

"Over the past five years, the living conditions for Syrian refugees have come under enormous pressure despite the continued generosity of refugee-hosting countries and donors," a statement by UNHCR said. "In desperation, many Syrian refugees have moved onwards, particularly to Europe."

The 28 richest countries have resettled only 1.39 per cent of the 4.6m Syrian refugees - a total of 129,966 refugees - a fraction of the 10 per cent of people who need to be urgently offered a safe haven. Only 67,000 have actually made it to their final destination.

Only three of the 28 countries - Canada, Germany, Norway - have pledged to resettle more than their “fair share”, according to Oxfam.

The UK is set to take just over a fifth of its fair share, according to the report.

"It's shocking that while people continue to flee Syria most countries have failed to provide a safe home for the most vulnerable. While the British government has been generous in providing financial aid, it's only offered to resettle 20,000 people by 2020, approximately 5,000 people a year," Mark Goldring, chief executive of Oxfam GB said. "This is simply not good enough and Britain can and should do more.

"Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are struggling to cope with almost five million Syrian refugees. Rich nations should be doing more to share the responsibility and offer refuge to some of the most vulnerable women and children affected by this crisis." Goldring said.

"The time has also come for more countries to share the responsibility by taking in a greater share of this refugee population, especially at a time when many are shutting their own borders," Melissa Fleming, head of communications for UNHCR wrote in a blog this morning.

"Host countries cannot be expected to take in all of Syria's refugees. At least 10 per cent of Syrian refugees should be offered resettlement or humanitarian admission places in richer countries around the world."

A high level meeting of countries will be held in Geneva tomorrow in an attempt to tackle the refugee crisis. Hosted by UNHCR, the meeting will be attended by ministers from 90 countries along with non-governmental organisations, including the International Catholic Migration Commission and the Jesuit Refugee Service.

The aim of the meeting is to secure pledges from countries to take in more refugees. Any consensus will be ratified by a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September.