Macron alert on the plans of the migrant center in Africa

French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC that EU plans to establish migrant processing centers in North Africa would only work if the process was led by these countries

. They feared that such centers would act as a factor of attraction for migrants.

No African country has so far agreed to host the centers.

EU leaders agreed to explore the idea at a summit earlier this month

They also agreed to create secure centers to receive the within the EU, but they differed significantly on how the plan would be implemented. Mr Macron said that Europe would deal with African migrations for decades because of what he called the fundamental problem of unplanned population growth in Africa.

He was criticized for saying the same thing in the past, some accusing him of He also said that the EU could not make decisions for African countries.

The idea of ​​migrant processing centers in North Africa "can fly, just so some African governments decide to organize it," he added.

Mr. Macron said his priority was to discourage people from taking "crazy risks" and putting their lives in danger in order to travel to Europe.

Mr. Macron told Nigerian entrepreneurs that his goal was to help Africa. to succeed, to offer new hope to African youth and to persuade Europeans that Africa was part of their "common destiny".

More than 100 people drowned and 100 others went missing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

More than 1,000 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year, according to the IOM.

About 56,000 migrants arrived in Europe this year compared to more than one million in 2015.