Reuters: US authorities want to increase the refugee quota several times this year

It may rise to 62.5 thousand people

A Syrian refugee holds a baby in a refug…A Syrian refugee holds a baby in a refugee camp set in the town of Harmanli, south-east of Sofia on November 12, 2013. Bulgaria’s asylum centres are severely overcrowded after the arrival of almost 10,000 refugees this year, half of them Syrian. The influx has fuelled anti-immigrant sentiment in a country already struggling with dire poverty. AFP PHOTO / NIKOLAY DOYCHINOVNIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP/Getty Images

The new US administration is planning to increase the quota of refugees to 62,500 people for the current fiscal year (started on 1 October), Reuters reported on Friday. Reuters reported this on Friday, citing sources.

Thus, as the agency explains, the U.S. will be ready to accept 22 thousand refugees from Africa, 6 thousand – from East Asia, 4 thousand – from Europe and Central Asia, 5 thousand – from Latin America, 13 thousand – from South Asia. The remaining 12,500 places are not assigned to any region.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced his intention to increase the quota of refugees from abroad to 125,000 in fiscal year 2022.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, the refugee admission quota was reduced from 85,000 in fiscal 2016 to 15,000 in fiscal 2021. This is the lowest number since the refugee law was passed in 1980.