A total of 12 asylum-seeking families will be housed in the Dover district as part of the wider Syrian crisis.

Council leader Paul Watkins answered a question from Helen Williams, a resident who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting.

She said: “What action is Dover District Council taking to support Syrian refugees in line with the latest government initiative, and in line with 40 other councils which have already declared their support in welcoming refugees?”

Prime Minister David Cameron announced last month that by 2020 the country will take in 20,000 refugees.

Many are fleeing their home country to escape the ongoing conflict.

Cllr Watkins said: “We will be working closely with Kent County Council.

“Their health needs will be met and the refugees will be dispersed equally throughout the district.

“They will be fully integrated over a period of time.”

Nationally the country will be taking about 400.

Checks are to be made overseas to ensure that each person that is offered help in the district is Syrian and in need.

They will be eligible for benefits, health care and given the option to work.

It will be funded by the International Aid Budget and Cllr Watkins said that it is likely they will be placed in private housing.

He added that this is a “one off” Syrian crisis issue and that Dover on its own “certainly is not a dispersal area for asylum seekers.”

When addressing the full council he said it was a myth that people think the town bears the burden of housing refugees.

“They move through to Croydon and are dispersed,” he said.

“We do not figure on the dispersal map but there are a shortage of dispersal areas.”