Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as the BRICs emerging market nations should do more to help Syrian refugees, a senior US official said, according to ABC News.

"I would like to see more aid come from the Gulf states that are in the Middle East area and are relatively wealthy compared to Jordan and Lebanon," Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard said.

"We would also like to see more from the BRICs -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and, to a lesser extent South Africa," she added.

"These are the wealthy states that care about the region that could and should be doing more on the humanitarian side," she said.

None of the six states in the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar -- has signed the UN convention on refugees, which has governed international law on asylum since World War Two.

Source: MENA