Amidst the growing European refugee crisis, Prime Minister Tony Abbott is under increasing pressure from the Opposition, refugee groups and some members of his own party to boost the number of Syrian refugees Australia accepts.

Mr Abbott has said he is prepared to lift the percentage of Syrian refugees, but maintains that does not mean Australia's annual overall intake of 13,750 would rise.

Refugee Council of Australia president Phil Glendenning has told ABC radio Australia’s contribution so far has been “shameful” and the government must do more.

"When you look at the scale of the humanitarian disaster that's taking place, arising out of the challenges in Syria, to say that we're not going to be increasing our intake is not stepping up," the shadow defense minister Senator Conroy told ABC's Radio National.

The International Organisation for Migration estimates that more than 350,000 migrants were detected at the EU's borders between January and August this year. And there is potential for this number to keep climbing.

Violence and civil war in Syria and Iraq have displaced millions. An estimated 1.7 million refugees are in Turkey, 1.2 million in Lebanon, more than 600,000 in Jordan, hundreds of thousands in Iraq and Egypt. Another 7 million are internally displaced inside Syria. Roughly half of the country's entire pre-war population are refugees, at home or abroad.

In terms of origin, since 2012 by far the biggest national group has been those fleeing Syria. In 2014 Syrians made up 128,000 of the total asylum applicants – followed by 47,000 from Eritrea, 43,000 from Afghanistan, 38,000 from Kosovo, 31,000 from Serbia, then Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria.

Information collated from various news reports including the ABC, The SMH and The Australian.