Europe has been urged to copy Australia's military-led 'stop the boats' policy to avoid migrant tragedies in the Mediterranean. Australian PM Tony Abbott – who sends naval gunboats to turn back asylum seekers before they reach Australia – said the EU should 'urgently' follow his lead. His hardline policy has proved controversial but Mr Abbott said it was the only way to prevent disasters such as the loss of 900 lives when a fishing boat capsized on Saturday night. Hardline: Tony Abbott, whose conservative government introduced a military-led operation to turn back boats carrying asylum-seekers before they reach Australia, said harsh measures are the only way to stop deaths . Haunted: Surviving immigrants who escaped the boat that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea killing up to 900 people appear deep in thought as they arrive in the Sicilian port city of Catania yesterday morning . Solemn: A young man, bows his head as he makes the short walk from the rescue boat's deck to the Catania shore where hundreds of people had gathered . New life: Members of the Italian Police look on as a migrant who survived the ship sinking off the coast of Libya walks the ramp of an Italian Coast Guard's vessel upon arrival at Catania's port yesterday morning . He said: 'The only way you can stop the deaths is to stop the boats. 'That's why it is so urgent that the countries of Europe adopt very strong policies that will end the people-smuggling trade across the Mediterranean.' Conservative Mr Abbott won power in 2013 on a 'stop the boats' pledge, and not a single one has breached his ring of steel in 18 months. Operation Sovereign Borders involves the Australian Navy intercepting boats filled with migrants at sea, and either turning them back or towing them back to where they came from. Mr Abbott has previously said he was sick of being lectured to by the United Nations over Australia's obligations to refugees, saying his policy was the 'most decent, most compassionate' solution. In the Mediterranean, callous people smugglers have been exploiting a willingness by European nations to rescue migrants rather than send them back. Last year, Italy scaled back its rescue operations because it feared they were only encouraging migrants to gamble with their lives. But the horrific loss of life over the past week in a spate of migrant shipwrecks has prompted calls to urgently reinstate the rescue missions. EU leaders including David Cameron are meeting tomorrow in what charities are calling a 'life or death' summit to solve the problem. Save the Children warned that 2,500 youngsters could die in the Mediterranean this year. Chief executive Justin Forsyth said: 'EU leaders hold the lives of thousands of desperate people in their hands when they meet. 'With every day that they prevaricate and delay restarting search and rescue operations, the risk grows that more people will die.' Taken to safety: An unknown survivor of the Mediterranean migrant tragedy is wheeled off an Italian coastguard ship in the Sicilian city of Catania . Horror: A man carries the body of a dead child onto the Greek island of Rhodes after a boat carrying dozens of people ran aground, killing at least three in one of a number of tragedies involving migrants in recent days . Chaos: Video footage shows a large, wooden double-masted boat with people packed on board, just metres away from the Greek island of Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea . Migrant boats approaching Australian waters are turned back by the Navy or sometimes even towed back to where they came from. Any vessels which manage to get close are taken under naval escort to the Pacific islands of Nauru or Papua New Guinea, where they are detained while migrants' asylum claims are processed. Migrants are then matched with a country that will resettle them. Those detained on Nauru are sent to Cambodia, which is paid to take them by the Australian government. A similar arrangement exists with Papua New Guinea for those detained there. Any migrants who actually make it to Australia by sea are automatically blocked from staying – even if they are found to be genuine refugees. The controversial scheme – which began 18 months ago has been attacked by human rights advocates who say it violates Australia's international obligations. However the government says it has greatly reduced the number of illegal immigrants arriving on Australian shores. Yesterday Mr Cameron pledged the UK would 'make a contribution' to search and rescue operations. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said refugees also needed to be persuaded to stay in their home countries in the first place. 'We've got to start in the upstream countries. We've got to deal with the traffickers,' he said, adding he 'absolutely' supported a 'more formidable operation on the sea'. Ed Miliband said the Government's policy of 'leaving people to drown' had been 'wrong'. The Labour leader said: 'Frankly I think it is a stain on Europe to have these things happening. 'We've got to act on search and rescue, and that is about basic humanity and I think that people all around the country will recognise this.' London Mayor Boris Johnson said Britain had a 'moral duty' to do more. 'I think it is an absolute tragedy and obviously we must do whatever we can to help the humanitarian response,' he said. One of the architects of Australia's tough border policies, retired Army Major-General Jim Molan, said European leaders were guilty of 'incompetence'. Mr Molan said the tragedies were 'worsened by Europe's refusal to learn from its own mistakes and from the efforts of others who have handled similar problems'. In the Mediterranean, the tide of human misery has only worsened. Saturday's disaster was the most catastrophic in a series of migrant shipwrecks that have claimed more than 1,700 lives this year – 30 times higher than the same period in 2014. In the past week alone, more than 1,000 have died. Border chiefs have warned that one million migrants are waiting to set sail off the coast of Libya, with the need for drastic action to address the crisis greater than ever before. Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has warned of a 'genocide' and said: 'Europe will be judged harshly for its inaction.' Rescue: A woman is laid to the ground after being rescued by Greek men as she tried to reach Europe aboard a wooden boat which ran aground on the island of Rhodes, killing three people . Saved: Three people died after a boat carrying dozens of migrants ran aground on the Greek island of Rhodes . Sunday morning: Italian coastguard responds to migrant ship after it capsizes off the coast of Libya with 700 passengers unaccounted for . Sunday afternoon: Passengers accounts of the ship say as many as 950 people may have been on board with 300 locked in the hull. Another boat is rescued off Sicily carrying 100 Syrian refugees. They are all brought to safety . Monday morning: A boat runs aground on the Greek holiday island of Rhodes killing a man, woman and child . Monday afternoon: Italian and Milanese coastguards respond to two distress calls off the coast of Libya from boats thought to be carrying up to 400 people. EU heads of state call for urgent action to ease the migrant crisis with an emergency summit called for later in the week . Monday at midnight: The surviving passengers of the Libyan boat arrive in Catania, Sicily. Among them is the crew's Tunisian captain and his Syrian crew member. Both were arrested and charged with 'favouring illegal immigration'. The captain was additionally charged with multiple manslaughter.
Tony Abbott insists tough line on migrants is the only way to stop deaths .
Said army should be deployed to prevent asylum seekers arriving on land .
He has ordered Australian military to turn back boats carrying migrants .
Controversial move has seen near-daily arrivals fall significantly, with no reported deaths at sea off the coast of Australia so far this year .