GETTY Antonio Tajani said Europe has ‘underestimated’ the migrant crisis

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The President of the European Union said there will be an exodus “of biblical proportions” in the next five years that will be “impossible to stop” if Europe does not confront the problem now. Mr Tajani’s warning came as France evacuated almost 3,000 migrants sleeping rough from a makeshift camp near Paris’ city centre.

He told Il Massagero newspaper: "Population growth, climate change, desertification, wars, famine in Somalia and Sudan. These are the factors that are forcing people to leave. "When people lose hope, they risk crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean because it is worse to stay at home, where they run enormous risks. “If we don't confront this soon, we will find ourselves with millions of people on our doorstep within five years.

This year more than 58,000 migrants have arrived in Italy and 1,569 have died Thu, June 29, 2017 An estimated 230,000 refugees and migrants will arrive in Italy this year as numbers of refugees and migrants attempting the dangerous central mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy continues to rise since the same time last year Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 11 Refugees and migrants wait in a small rubber boat to be rescued off Lampedusa, Italy

If we don't confront this soon, we will find ourselves with millions of people on our doorstep Antonio Tajani

"Today we are trying to solve a problem of a few thousand people, but we need to have a strategy for millions of people.” Mr Tajani claimed the only solution to the crisis is a massive investment in Africa to stop people leaving in the first place. The number of migrants from north and central African countries such as Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Somalia has gone up 20 per cent since last year, according to the United Nations.

GETTY The President of the European Union warned ‘millions’ more will come

More than 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe, and nearly 2,250 have died making the journey. And 500,000 people are believed to have ventured from Libya to Italy over the past four years. EU interior ministers have pledged to back an urgent plan to help Italy, which has accepted 85 per cent of arrivals this year. The European Commission has offered Italy £30million (€35m) in extra funding to help deal with the situation. But Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans has said Europe need “solidarity from all member states including the United Kingdom” to tackle the increasing flow of migrants. He said: “I will tell you this migration issue will not go away – not today, not tomorrow, not next year, not for a decade, not for two decades.

GETTY More than 100,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe last year