Australian PM urged to go easy on refugees after Sydney siege
Human rights groups and some politicians on Thursday urged Prime Minister Tony Abbott not to use a deadly siege in Sydney as a pretext to crack down on refugees after he repeatedly questioned why the attacker had received political asylum and welfare benefits in Australia.
Police killed Iranian-born Man Haron Monis when they stormed a cafe early on Tuesday morning to free hostages he'd held at gunpoint for 16 hours. Police are investigating whether two hostages who also died were killed by the self-styled sheikh or were hit in the crossfire.
Monis, who received political asylum in 2001, had been free on bail after being charged last year as an accessory to murder. He was more recently charged with dozens of counts of sexual and indecent assault.
Abbott declined to rule out tougher immigration laws in response to the cafe attack when asked by a reporter on Wednesday, and raised unprompted that Monis had been receiving welfare.
"I think it's very important that we carefully consider the security status of people, particularly people who are coming to us from difficult countries and with difficult backgrounds and claiming asylum," he said.
