Syrian Migrants
Migrants walk to board a bus bound for Austria and Germany, next to the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary, September 5, 2015. Hungary's government said it would deliver around 100 buses to pick up migrants in Budapest and another 1,200 striding down the main highway to Vienna. Long lines of buses packed with migrants left Budapest bound for Austria on Saturday as Hungary gave in to determined crowds, including many Syrian refugees, who had set out on foot for western Europe in defiance of a right-wing government vowing to stem their tide. Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott seems to have closed the option to accept more Syrian migrants into the country while his cabinet may be all set to approve air strikes on Syria.

Abbott was asked if he would consider emotional pleas to accept more refugees. He said Australia would accept 4,400 additional refugees from the Middle East, adding that the number had been decided in 2014 itself.

While Abbott appears to take no extra measure to welcome more asylum seekers, he said Australia was serious about its international obligations. Churches want Australia to accept 10,000 additional refugees from Syria, while the Greens want to welcome 20,000.

Abbott’s “stop the boat” policy was earlier criticised by the New York Times, which called the policy “brutal.” The Australian PM, who has regularly found opposition for a number of his actions in recent past, got support from Fairfax Media's chief political correspondent Mark Kenny, who said, thanks to Abbott’s policies, Australia had managed to stop deaths at sea.

"One of the good things about stopping the boats is that we are now in a much better position to increase our refugee and humanitarian intake," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Abbott as saying.

Abbott also talked about a possible participation in airstrikes on Syria. "We are very determined to play our part in the international campaign against the death cult," Abbott said.

Abbott earlier said Australia’s decision to join the airstrikes would be done only after discussing the issue with Defence Minister Kevin Andrews. The defence minister said he was in favour of the Royal Australian Air Force, or RAAF, joining air strikes in Syria. He, however, said it would be up to the National Security Committee to take the final decision, Herald Sun reported.

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