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	Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has said that Ireland could be doing more to help with the international refugee crisis.</p>
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	Speaking to RT&Eacute; News in New York at a summit on refugees, Mr Flanagan said that the &quot;world refugee issue was one of the most vital challenges of our time&quot;.</p>
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	Ireland has committed to taking in 4,000 refugees, but so far just over 300 have arrived.</p>
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	Earlier this week, T&aacute;naiste Frances Fitzgerald said that 870 would have arrived by the end of year, but acknowledged that the process had been slow.</p>
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	Mr Flanagan has echoed her comments, saying he acknowledged that the resettlement of refugees in Ireland has been slow, saying he would like to see a &quot;greater level of progress&quot;.</p>
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	He added: &quot;Perhaps there have been bureaucratic issues involved&quot;.</p>
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	&quot;I believe it&#39;s important that we advance and address issues without delay,&quot; he added.</p>
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	In the run-up to this week&#39;s events in New York, leading charities such as Oxfam Ireland, Tr&oacute;caire and the Irish Refugee Council, have criticised Ireland&#39;s response to date.</p>
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	Countries pledge to take in more refugees</p>
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	Opening the leaders summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly, US President Barack Obama announced 50 countries have pledged to take in 360,000 refugees this year, doubling the number from last year.</p>
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	Mr Obama praised Germany and Canada among other countries that have opened up their doors to those fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts.</p>
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	&quot;We are facing a crisis of epic proportion,&quot; Mr Obama said.</p>
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	&quot;We cannot avert our eyes or turn our backs. To slam the door in the face of these families would betray our deepest values.&quot;</p>
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	A record-breaking 65 million people are on the move worldwide, including 21 million refugees competing for too few resettlement opportunities.</p>
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	Now in its sixth year, the war in Syria has displaced nine million people while more than four million have fled to neighbouring countries.</p>
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	&quot;Collectively, our nations are roughly doubling the number of refugees that we admit to our countries to more than 360,000 this year,&quot; Mr Obama announced.</p>
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	Countries also boosted financial contributions to UN appeals and international humanitarian organisations by about $4.5 billion (&euro;4bn) over 2015 levels.</p>
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	The pledges included funds for ensuring access to schools for a million refugee children and enabling one million refugees to work legally.</p>
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	At a special chief executive roundtable, the White House also announced that 51 companies had committed to investing, donating or raising more than &euro;650m for helping refugees.</p>
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	The Obama administration itself has said it will raise the number of refugees entering the United States to 110,000 next year, up from 85,000 this year.</p>
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	Addressing the summit last night, Ms Fitzgerald said Ireland was &quot;strongly aware of its international responsibilities to refugees&quot;, adding &quot;like others here today, we are appalled at the misery, danger and loss of life involved&quot;.</p>
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	She said Ireland&#39;s humanitarian assistance last year totalled &euro;140m and this year would give more than &euro;62m to address the crisis in Syria.</p>
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	She also said more than 10,000 people had been rescued on five successive Irish naval service vessels deployed to the Mediterranean since May 2015.</p>
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	The T&aacute;naiste concluded: &quot;As a people who have received shelter from others in our moments of crisis, we will not be found wanting in our readiness to help others in need&quot;.</p>
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	(Published by RTE.ie on the 21st September 2016)</p>
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	<a href="http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0921/818020-refugees-pledge/">http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0921/818020-refugees-pledge/</a></p>
