Syrian children play near a tent after a heavy snowstorm at Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 8, 2015. Syrian refugees in Jordan's main Zaatari refugee camp appealed for help on Thursday afte
Syrian children play near a tent after a heavy snowstorm at Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 8, 2015. Syrian refugees in Jordan's main Zaatari refugee camp appealed for help on Thursday after a regional storm buffeted the Middle East with blizzards, rain and strong winds. The temperatures, which usually average 13 Celsius (55.4 Fahrenheit ) this time of the year have plunged to 2 to zero Celsius (35.6-32 Fahrenheit), Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said on Tuesday. Reuters/Muhammad Hamed

Responding to a plea for help from the United Nations, Canada has vowed to accept Syrian and Iraqi refugees over the next three years. The country announced on Wednesday it will accommodating 10,000 from Syria and 3,000 from Iraq in the next 36 months.

Chris Alexander, Immigration Minister, said on Wednesday the decision to accept the displaced "Syrians and Iraqis who face the worst forms of violence in the world today" was just about "the right thing" to do, according to reports from the Globe and Mail and Csmonitor.com.

Refugees will be categorised, where priority will be given to persecuted groups. Religious minorities, sexual minorities and victims of rape fall under this category.

On a more detailed note, refugees falling under religious minorities would include Christians and Yazidis. Alexander had explained in December 2014 that Canada has more preference over the two minority religions because they really have no country that is willing to accept them in the neighbouring countries of Syria and Iraq, unlike the Sunnis and Shias.

The incoming new batch of 10,000 new Syrian refugees will be accommodated into Canada through both government and private-organization sponsorship, Alexander said. He expects 60 percent of the total figure will be sponsored by private sponsors such as church groups; the rest will be supported through government arrangements. Private sponsors would need to provide the 6,000 Syrian refugees with "financial and emotional support," including help with housing, clothing and food that could sometimes last for the duration of the three years. Since mid-2013, Canada has accepted 1,060 Syrian refugees, apart from some 20,000 Iraqis.

Latest data from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees revealed there are about 6.5 million people displaced out of Syria and about 400,000 from Iraq. Of their neighbouring countries, it has been Turkey and Lebanon which have received the most number of internally displaced people, or IDPs.

Nohad Mashnouq, Lebanese Interior minister, in a press conference on Monday, said Lebanon already has 1.5 million Syrians so far, of which 1,070,000 are registered as refugees. "That is enough, and Lebanon has no ability to receive more refugees." Turkey likewise has the same number of IDPs.