All Australians will sympathise with the plight of the refugees from a host of deeply troubled countries in the Middle East and Africa now arriving in Europe, as well as appreciating the conundrums involved for countries dealing with this sudden human tide. 
The nations of the European Union, close to north Africa and the Middle East, are struggling with an exodus on a vastly bigger scale to anything experienced by Australia. The recognised system has broken down as refugees try to reach the most welcoming places. Just as the eurozone split deeply over the rules for financial bailouts, so the wider union has split on its rules for refugees. A better system of temporarily sharing unprecedented numbers of refugees has to be implemented.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's talks with the UNHCR means we are playing our role in a global crisis. The Abbott government is set to accept many thousands of Syrians through its existing refugee quota, which is being expanded over the next three years. Next should be extensively more humanitarian aid for those in the Middle East to help reduce the need to perilous and uncertain flight for another continent in the first place.