Australia announces air strikes in Syria after offering asylum for 12,000 Syrian refugees from ‘persecuted minorities'

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the much awaited decision to extend air strikes into Syria against the Islamic State or ISIS targets on Wednesday morning, after giving the nod to accept 12,000 Syrian refugees into the country. Australia has been under pressure from global powers to play a greater role in the migrant crisis and expand its intake of distressed refugees.

Extended airstrikes

According to the BBC, the Australian air force, which has been undertaking air strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq for many months, will now extend the mission to Syria. Explaining the rationale of airstrikes in Syria, and linking its logic with the fleeing population there, Mr Abbott told a press conference in Canberra that “As a free and democratic country we must stand up against those who intend to destroy life”. Assuring that the air strikes in Syria will only target ISIS and not the Assad administration, Mr Abbot said the move is an exercise of “the right to collective self defence under Article 51 of the UN charter."

“Australia remains committed to the international effort to counter Daesh, which threatens stability in Iraq and the Middle East and the security of Australians at home and in our region," the PM said using an Arabic name for the Islamic State. He also said the decision to expand air strikes was in response to a formal request from Washington.

Issue of refugees

Alongside the stick came the carrot-- Australia will take more Syrian refugees. According to Mr Abbott, Australia would accept 12,000 additional Syrian refugees belonging to the persecuted minorities. This will be in addition to the overall 13,750 refugee quota of 2015.

"This is a very significant increase in Australia's humanitarian intake and it's a generous response to the current emergency," said Mr Abbott.

“Our focus for these new 12,000 permanent resettlement places will be those people most in need of permanent protection - women, children and families from persecuted minorities who have sought temporary refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey,” the PM said.

The Australian government will also donate AU$44 million to the U.N. to support 240,000 displaced people in countries neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

Australia's focus on minorities is significant as many lawmakers including Government Senate leader Eric Abetz had been drawing attention to the plight of Christians in the Middle East as “the most persecuted group in the world” and wanted due priority for them.

MPs deplores air strike

Meanwhile, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie welcomed the decision to take in more Syrian refuges but flayed the decision to extend airstrikes into Syria and called it “risky, illegal and ineffective.” He said the decision will only draw Australia “deeper and deeper into the vortex of Middle East civil war”.

However, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews justified the air strikes. His views were endorsed by Attorney General, George Brandis, who said the strikes are in fact legal.

“ISIL conducts aggressive attacks on Iraq from bases within Syria ... and we are at war with ISIL on behalf of the people and constitutional government of Iraq," Brandis said.

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