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| Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (Image: Flickr User - UN Geneva) |
SYDNEY — Australia on Monday urged more European nations to begin airstrikes against Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq as a way of tackling the escalating refugee crisis gripping the continent.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said jihadists were responsible for driving hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe and a broadening of the coalition fighting them was necessary.
"Over 40 percent of the people currently seeking asylum in Europe are from Syria, and we need a united front to defeat the terrorist organizations that are driving the displacement of so many people," she told reporters in Sydney.
"Already there are about 60 countries that are providing support in one way or another to the US-led coalition.
"But there's more countries can do in terms of supporting the air strikes which are proving effective in stopping Daesh (IS) from claiming territory off sovereign governments and from inflicting so much barbaric violence."
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