A renowned human rights group is urging the government to rethink its refugee policy.

At present, New Zealand has a quota of 750 refugees allowed into the country every year in accordance with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

However human rights NGO Amnesty International believes that's not enough, and will make its stance clear with a presence on the steps of parliament today.

"Amnesty International is calling on the government to double the quota, but really what needs to be done here is New Zealand really needs to step up and do its fair share," executive director Grant Bayldon argued.

"Other countries are doing far more even on a per capita basis than New Zealand is."

The organisation has joined a chorus of others who have called for an increase to the national quota of refugees.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told a Victoria University of Wellington politics on Tuesday that there was a "just cause" to revisit the country's "UN commitment of 750" refugees.

"There's no reason, in my view, that we couldn't go to 1000 easily, and do it in a responsible way," Peters said.

Peters was joined by race relations conciliator Dame Susan Devoy, who said a quota increase was a sensible thing to do and that it was timely.

"New Zealand hasn't raised its refugee quota since David Lange was prime minister, Mr Peters was his party's race relations spokesperson and I was the world squash champion," Dame Susan said.

"Times have changed a lot since 1987, it's time to raise the quota," she said.

Bayldon said the time was also right to have an emergency allowance for "when situations arise in the world where urgent support is needed".

"We've seen that with Syria in recent years, and we're seeing it now in South East Asia with people who fled Burma."

However, not everybody has been supportive of a quota increase.

During his time in Turkey ahead of Anzac Day preparations, Prime Minister John Key ruled out an increase, and stated governments worked hard to ensure the lives of those refugees were well adjusted to being in New Zealand.

Key added family reunifications saw the quota inflate to over the 750 mark.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan wasn't sharing the same notion and said the United Nations' quota meant Western countries were turning a blind eye to the refugee crisis caused by Islamic State.