The new Prime Minister is being called on to show his humanitarian side and take an emergency quota of refugees fleeing Syria.
The quota currently sits at 1000, but can be increased under an emergency. Green Party immigration spokesperson Denise Roche says the situation in Aleppo is an emergency.
"The Government can decide at any time to extend the number of refugees that we take. They don't need to have a law to do that."
Aleppo has been central to the conflict in Syria, but even with the Assad regime appearing to take control of the city, there's little hope the bloodshed could soon be over.
A ceasefire called earlier this week to allow the remaining civilians to evacuate fell apart after just a single day. Only 8000 made it out, reports the Guardian, and the United Nations estimates 30,000 remain trapped.
The Green Party has a Member's Bill which will see the quota permanently increased to 1500 refugees annually.
"This is an opportunity for Bill English to show he's a more humanitarian type of person than the previous Prime Minister," says Ms Roche, who believes New Zealand's distance from the Middle East is a reason we should be taking in more, not fewer.
"Given that we're such a long way away and there are people fleeing that country that need refuge, we should be taking more refugees now."
Former Prime Minister John Key raised the quota in June from 750, where it had sat since the late 1980s. Campaigners from various organisations, including Amnesty International, wanted it doubled to 1500.
"Just to increase it to 1000 because it's a round number seems calculating rather than caring" Murdoch Stevens, the man behind the 'Double the Quota' campaign, said at the time.
Another ceasefire was agreed to at the weekend.
Newshub.
