Light the Dark vigils held across Australia to support Syrian asylum seekers.

Thousands of people gathered across the country last night for Light the Dark vigils in support of Syrian asylum seekers.

Large crowds in Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin and other capital cities held candles aloft in honour of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler found drowned on a Turkish beach whose fate has galvanised calls for action to help the millions of people fleeing the war in Syria.

The rallies came as New South Wales Premier Mike Baird renewed calls for Australia to do more to help, saying the country could take in more than 10,000 refugees.

The Federal Government is expected to authorise air strikes against Islamic State in Syria today. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the country will take in a “significant” number of Syrian refugees, but has ruled out increasing the country’s overall intake.

In Melbourne, a huge crowd gathered at Treasury Gardens to send a message of welcome and solidarity to asylum seekers, and to press the Federal Government to accept more of those fleeing war in their own countries.

It is a message coming not only from the public, but also from Victoria’s political leaders, with both the Premier and the Opposition Leader calling for an increased refugee intake.

‘None but… the dead of heart can remain unmoved’

In Sydney, 5,000 people gathered in Hyde Park, with candles being lit at a make-shift alter.

Gosford Anglican priest Rod Bower spoke to the Sydney crowd about Aylan.

“His tiny little body lying as if asleep on a Turkish beach, but he isn’t asleep,” he said.

“This little boy is dead, as is his brother and his mother and many other humans.

“Without warning this child has become every refugee. An archetype, every refugee, calling us to the fullness of humanity.

“None but the wilfully deaf, the wilfully blind and the dead of heart can remain unmoved.

“Sadly it is those wilfully blind to our eternal shame who govern us this day.”

In Darwin, people gathered on the Nightcliff jetty and foreshore.

“It’s important for Darwin to stand up and be counted,” said Julie U’Ren, a social worker who attended the vigil.

“I’m here to acknowledge lost opportunities and lives and to encourage and inspire,” said a man known only as Shankar from the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Agency.

Immigration lawyer Mitch Simmons attended a Light the Dark vigil held at Adelaide’s Elder Park in the city’s CBD.

He welcomed the idea of Australia taking more Syrian refugees, but was concerned about how it would impact on the intake system.

“Australia’s current humanitarian program only allows for the granting of 13,750 visas until July next year,” Mr Simmons said.

“The concern is that if the [number of] visas to be granted to the Syrians is to be taken out of the existing case load, then it comes at the expense of other refugees that are suffering around the world.”

In Perth, hundreds congregated at short notice in Northbridge, the city’s cultural centre, to show their support.

The crowd of about 500 people heard from a number of speakers, including activists and a member of Perth’s Hazara community.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.