Refugee crisis "one of the most urgent tests of our time": Obama

The world is facing a refugee crisis of "epic proportions" and it is "one of the most urgent tests of our time," U.S. President Barack Obama said here Tuesday.

At a summit on refugees held at the United Nations headquarters, Obama called for concerted action from countries around the world to alleviate the refugee crisis that is a test of international system and common humanity.

"This crisis is a test of our common humanity -- whether we give in to suspicion and fear and build walls, or whether we see ourselves in another," Obama said.

The U.S. president also urged the international community to make more efforts to end conflicts, as "so many of the world's refugees come from just three countries ravaged by war -- Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia."

"We all know that what is happening in Syria, for example, is unacceptable," Obama said. "We are not as unified as we should be in pushing to make it stop."

More than 65 million people in the world are displaced, the highest number on record since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began collecting statistics, according to the White House. More than 21 million of these people have crossed international borders in search for safety and are assessed as refugees.

More than 50 countries in the world have doubled the number of refugees they take in this year to more than 360,000, Obama said.

According to a joint statement issued at the summit, 32 participating countries have contributed this year roughly 4.5 billion additional U.S. dollars to UN appeals and international humanitarian organizations than in 2015.

In future years, the participating countries at the summit will seek a 3 billion dollars increase in global humanitarian financing and commitments to maintain funding to address the crisis. Endit