Migrant crisis: UK response criticised by senior former judges
Some of the UK's top former judges and lawyers have criticised the government response to the migrant crisis.
Lord Phillips, former UK Supreme Court head, and Lord Macdonald, ex-director of public prosecutions, are among 300 to sign a letter on the issue.
They say the offer to accept 20,000 refugees over five years is not enough. One former judge suggested the UK could take in 75,000 refugees a year.
The government said it had been at the forefront of the global response.
In addition to offering to accept 20,000 refugees from camps bordering war-torn Syria, it has provided £1bn in aid to Syria, with an extra £100m being given to charities to help thousands of people displaced by the conflict.
'Shared responsibility'
The open letter to the press has been signed by more than 300 lawyers, QCs and retired judges. Other signatories include the former president of the European Court of Human Rights, Sir Nicolas Bratza.
One of the signatories, retired judge Catriona Jarvis, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme the government's response to the refugee crisis had been "too slow and too narrow".
She said Britain could accept many more refugees.
"Around the Balkan crisis we were receiving around 75,000 a year. It was within our capability. We managed it well," she said.
"We are the sixth or seventh richest country in the world, it is not beyond our capabilities to make the necessary changes to receive our share.
"International protection, it is a shared duty, a shared responsibility."
Sir Stephen Sedley, former Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal, said: "As a stable and prosperous country, we can do better than this."
The first of the Syrian refugees arrived in the UK at the end of September.
Eventually the UK will have to take about 400 refugees a month in order to meet its 20,000 target by 2020.
The refugees will be brought to the UK from camps in countries neighbouring Syria, with those being resettled selected by the UN on the basis of need.
Migrant crisis: UK response criticised by senior former judges - BBC News