EU must tackle Africa population boom to curb migration - U.N.
DAKAR- The European Union should help countries in Africa's Sahel region tackle a population boom if it wants to stop more migrants coming to its shores, a senior UN official said.
Toby Lanzer, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, said governments there were already struggling to provide enough jobs, schools and food for the growing numbers that, the United Nations estimates, could treble to more 300 million by 2050 at current rates.
"The challenge across the region is gigantic," Lanzer said in an interview on Wednesday.
"In the coming 10-20 years we will see an ever-increasing number of migrants until the countries of Europe ... have a very frank conversation with each country about demography," he said, adding that the EU should also discuss measures on trade and security to curb migration.
