EU faces rising immigration problem

AN estimated 80,000 people in West Africa are currently preparing to migrate illegally to Europe —and that situation is going to get worse, according to a senior member of the European Parliament.

French MEP Patrick Gaubert said there were some 50,000 people waiting for a chance to leave from Mauritania, a further 20,000 in Senegal and the rest from other unspecified countries.

“The phenomenon is going to get worse,” Mr Gaubert, vice president of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, told reporters.