Kingston MP James Berry has defended voting against allowing 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees into the UK from Europe, saying that the government is right to concentrate its efforts on refugees living in “far more dangerous” areas.

MPs rejected a Labour amendment to the Immigration Bill by 294 votes to 276 in Parliament on Monday – although some Conservative backbenchers voted for the amendment.

Mr Berry, who displaced Ed Davey last May, said he was “minded to vote for the amendment”, but preferred government plans to resettle refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.

He said: “The government is committing to take the same number of children, but from the region itself, which is far more dangerous than mainland Europe.

“I find decisions surrounding refugee numbers extremely difficult, especially when many have had the most unimaginably horrific experiences.

“In my view, the figure of 23,000 over the next four years, including 3,000 refugee children, strikes the right balance.”

Last week, the government announced it would take in as many as 3,000 refugees, mostly vulnerable children, from Syria by 2020 – alongside the 20,000 to whom prime minister David Cameron promised to offer sanctuary in September.

The government warned that resettling children from Europe would expose them to traffickers.

A second amendment was approved by the Lords on Tuesday calling on ministers to relocate and support a specified number of children in the UK.

The bill will now return to the House of Commons.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Labour MP Yvette Cooper said the government’s policy was “putting the country to shame”.

She said: “There are child homes full in Italy and Greece and more than 1,000 children will sleep rough in Greece alone tonight.

“How are they safe?

“It’s not insulting other European countries to offer them help, they want us to help.”