"Anyone who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as a father, I felt deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey," Mr Cameron said. A police officer carries the body of Aylan Kurdi after he washed up on a beach near the Turkish resort of Bodrum. Credit:AP The European migrant crisis has focused international attention on Australia's asylum seeker policies, which have dramatically cut the number of boat arrivals over recent years. The New York Times on Thursday editorialised against the Abbott government's asylum seeker policies, which include offshore detention and turning boats around. The paper argued the policies are "unconscionable" and urged European nations not to adopt a similar approach. Mr Abbott said on Friday: "If you want to stop the deaths, if you want to stop the drownings you have got to stop the boats. "We saw yesterday on our screens a very sad, poignant image of children tragically dead at sea in illegal migration," Mr Abbott told ABC radio.

"Thankfully, we have stopped that in Australia because we have stopped the illegal boats. Prime Minister Tony Abbott. "We have said to the people smugglers: 'Your trade is closed down.' "If you want to keep people safe, you have got to stop illegal migration and that's what we have done." Mr Joyce, the Agriculture Minister, told The West Australian he was in favour of Australia bringing in extra Syrian refugees, provided it was done through "proper and legitimate channels".

"We must do so through appropriate processes otherwise you can see what happens when there are no controls on the border," he said. "Who thinks watching a child drown is a good outcome?" Mr Joyce said priority should be given to persecuted Christians with nowhere to go. Asked about Mr Joyce's comments Mr Abbott said on Friday: "We're already doing that." Former immigration minister Scott Morrison announced Australia would accept an extra 4,400 people from Iraq and Syria under its refugee and humanitarian intake program, he said.

"We're doing exactly what Barnaby has suggested and that's because we have much better border security controls in place," Mr Abbott sais. Shadow immigration spokesman Richard Marles said the government should increase funding for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the wake of the crisis. Before this year's British election, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) called for Britain to adopt an Australian-style visa system to reduce the number of unskilled workers coming from Europe. "What we want to do is change our relationship with the European Union, take back control of our borders and put in place a positive immigration policy," UKIP leader Nigel Farage said. "By that I mean we want an Australian-style points system to decide who comes to live, work and settle in this country."

Controversial Sun columnist Katy Hopkins argued in April that European countries should adopt the Abbott government's turn-back-the-boats policy - an approach she called an "Aussie version of sharia stoning". Hopkins argued Europe should follow Australia's approach to asylum seekers by "threatening them with violence until they bugger off". Follow us on Twitter