The U.N. refugee agency praised on Tuesday a decision by U.S. President Joe Biden to admit up to 62,500 refugees this year, and hoped it would inspire other countries to resettle more people fleeing persecution or war.
On Monday, Biden said he had resurrected a plan to raise refugee admissions this year after drawing a wave of criticism from supporters for initially keeping the refugee cap at a historically low level of 15,000, set by his predecessor Donald Trump.
“I hope this decision will now also inspire other countries to follow suit, to restore or expand their resettlement commitments,” Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement.