British government rejects right-wing party's call to accept Syrian refugees

The British government has rejected a call by the leader of the right-wing UK Independence Party for Britain to "honour the spirit" of a 1951 UN convention and allow Syrian refugees into the country.

In an unlikely reversal of roles, the government responded to Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who has been campaigning against immigration from Romania and Bulgaria, by saying on Sunday that Britain had no plans to accept Syrian refugees and would instead focus its efforts on humanitarian aid.

Farage told the BBC: "I think refugees are a very different thing to economic migration and I think that this country should honour the spirit of the 1951 declaration on refugee status … The original ideas of defining what a refugee is were good ones. I think actually there is a responsibility on all of us in the free West to try and help some of those people in Syria fleeing in fear of their lives."

The intervention prompted an angry response on Ukip's Facebook page. Ross Gavin wrote: "You better start rethinking some of your views on Syrian refugees before showing up for this one, Nigel. You might not find yourself quite so popular this time."

Farage made his call days after Prime Minister David Cameron joined forces with opposition leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to endorse a £4 billion (HK$51 billion) UN appeal after a warning that nearly three-quarters of the Syrian population would need help in 2014.

The government said it would focus its efforts on providing humanitarian help to Syrian refugees in the region rather than welcoming them to Britain. A spokesman said: "The UK has no plans to resettle or provide temporary protection to Syrians. Instead, we are giving as much help as possible to people in the region … We are supporting the regional protection programme, which provides help close to the country of origin."