London, January 7 (RHC)-- Leading British charities have slammed Prime Minister David Cameron's policies to deal with the migration crisis engulfing Europe saying his responses are too slow and clearly inadequate.

In a joint statement, 27 charities, including Oxfam and Amnesty International, called on the UK government to take a greater role to deal with the refugees crisis in Europe. The statement called on Cameron to show a "new resolve" to deal with the crisis.

"Last year's announcement that the UK will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years was a welcome first step but given the numbers of people searching for safety across the globe, this response is clearly inadequate: it is too slow, too low and too narrow," the charities said. They added that the UK can and should be doing "much more" to help refugees.

In response, a government spokesperson said: "The United Kingdom has a long and proud history of offering sanctuary to those who genuinely need our protection, with each claim for asylum judged on its individual merits.