Obama orders another $15 million for Syrian refugees

President Obama on Tuesday approved $15 million in emergency aid to help Syrian refugees.

The executive memo comes as United Nations Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to tell the Security Council on Tuesday that the prospects are bleak for a negotiated end to the 22-month-old uprising that has left more than 60,000 people dead. The Syrian opposition's meeting Monday in Paris with its international supporters quickly devolved into a rehash of recriminations toward the West for not doing enough to topple the regime of Bashar Assad, The Washington Post reports.

“I hereby determine … that it is important to the national interest to furnish assistance under the Act, in an amount not to exceed $15 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund, for the purpose of meeting unexpected urgent refugee and migration needs, including by contributions to international, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations and payment of administrative expenses of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State, resulting from the crisis in Syria," Obama said in his executive memorandum, titled "Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Relating to Syria."