Hundreds of Syrian refugees to be housed in UK city plagued by homelessness

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Birmingham will take 500 Syrian refugees

Birmingham city councillors will "put their arms out to welcome" 500 migrants under the Tory Government's resettlement scheme. 

There were 18,834 individual applicants on the council’s homeless register as well as 464 homeless families in 2009 according to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The controversial decision to house refugees comes as part of city council's plan to make Birmingham a "City of Sanctuary" for Syrian asylum seekers. 

During a meeting at a city church, council leader John Clancy said: "This city will put its arms out to welcome refugees from those UN camps, 500 of them over this next few years.

"We will welcome them, it's a sign of strength as a city that we can do that."

Those gathered at the meeting were part of an umbrella group called "Citizens UK Birmingham", which joins people from faith groups, schools, unions, community groups and resident groups. 

But the news will come as a blow to the thousands of locals already on the social housing list who are likely to be put back when Syrian migrants are housed. 

Prime Minister David Cameron called on local authorities to take their fair share of the 20,000 Syrians the British Government has promised to relocate from refugee camps in the Middle East. 

Birmingham has previously been described as a "magnet" for those with housing problems.