Don't follow Australia on asylum seekers: New York Times

The New York Times says Europe must resist any temptation to copy Tony Abbott's asylum seeker boat policies amid its own migrant crisis.

Source: The New York Times

The New York Times has branded the Australian government's policy to stop asylum seeker boats as inhumane and urged European leaders not to follow suit.

The US outlet, in an editorial published on Thursday (US time), warned it would be unconscionable for Europe to replicate the hard-line approach as its governments try to deal with thousands of asylum seekers and migrants trying to cross the continent.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's "policies have been inhumane, of dubious legality and strikingly at odds with the country's tradition of welcoming people fleeing persecution and war", the editorial said.