Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said the United Kingdom will give sanctuary to unaccompanied child refugees from Syria and regions around it, but won't take in 3,000 of them who have already reached Europe, reported the BBC. The government said it will instead give £10 million (Rs 97 crore) to help vulnerable minors who are in Europe. According to Immigration Minister James Brokenshire, it would be better if the children in Europe remain there "so they can be reunited with surviving family members”.

The Home Office said it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to identify "exceptional cases" of children in and around Syria, who need to be given shelter. The government intends to take in 20,000 refugees by 2020. The unaccompanied children the country plans to take in will be over and above this 20,000, The Independent reported.

On the same day, as thousands of refugees continued to struggle to reach Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and other conflict-ridden areas, Sweden announced that the asylum applications of as many as 80,000 refugees have been rejected and they will be expelled from the country, reported Al Jazeera. "We are talking about 60,000 people, but the number could climb to 80,000," Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said. Sweden alone accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers in 2015. But the numbers dropped since Sweden enacted systematic photo ID checks on travellers on January 4.