Officials are preparing to justify the highly controversial arrangement by saying only professionals who will contribute to society would be allowed in. But critics last night described the proposed scheme as "madness" and warned that it would push the British public towards voting for the UK to leave the EU in the forthcoming referendum. Refugees wait at the German-Austrian border near Wegscheid on Thursday. Credit:DPA/AP The plan emerged as British Prime Minister David Cameron prepared to send a key letter to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, setting out "the broad outlines" of his demands for reforming Britain's relationship with EU. Mr Cameron has promised to negotiate a better deal for Britain's membership of the EU before putting the new terms to a vote in an In-Out referendum by the end of 2017. On Tuesday, he will use a major speech to make his strongest threat so far that he could recommend an Out vote if the EU ignores British requests for change.

Mr Cameron will seek to press his case for European reforms in talks at Wednesday's summit on the migration crisis in Valletta, Malta. Refugees and migrants over themselves with thermal blankets after their arrival on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the north-eastern Greek island of Lesbos. Credit:AP However, he will first have to decide whether to accept the controversial new blueprint for addressing the crisis. While British officials appeared sceptical about the proposal, Mr Cameron faced an awkward decision over whether to veto the plan and risk infuriating other European leaders whom he needs to woo in order to secure his referendum reforms. A Slovakian policeman, left, a Hungarian police officer, right, a Hungarian soldier, second left, and a Czech policeman patrol along the temporary border fence on the Hungarian-Serbian border near Roszke. Credit:AP

Under the plan, students, doctors and entrepreneurs from African states would be given language training, visas and job offers to entice them to travel to Europe. Officially, the plans are intended to undermine the multibillion-dollar illegal smuggling industry by offering migrants legal routes to Europe. A Red Cross worker helps a Syrian family after crossing the border between Austria and Germany near Passau. Credit:AP However, a leaked draft of the text confirms that the scheme is also a carrot to encourage African leaders to take back tens of thousands of migrants whom European Union countries want to deport. The EU will offer £1.3 billion ($2.8 billion) in aid under what is being called a "trust fund" for countries including Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya. Nigel Farage, the UK Independence Party leader, said: "The EU's way to stop illegal mass migration from Africa is to make it legal. This is sheer madness."

A Syrian woman begs for money from passing motorists in Istanbul. Credit:AP Sir Bill Cash, the Conservative chairman of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, said the migration crisis could tilt the referendum in favour of exit from the European Union. He said: "I have previously said there would be a tsunami and we would be swamped - and now we are told it is to be 3 million people. We have to keep control of our borders." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban holds a document outlining migration routes prior to a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on October 25. Credit:AP The plan would not have a direct impact on Britain because it is not a member of the Schengen common migration zone within the EU.

Mr Cameron's demands for EU reform will include an explicit statement that Britain will not be part of moves towards creating an EU "superstate". They will also contain demands for curbing the welfare entitlements among EU migrants in the UK, and measures to boost economic competitiveness in the European single market. Last night, Mr Cameron's demands left colleagues unimpressed. One cabinet source said: "We should be asking the Europeans for big reforms. But this is all smoke and mirrors. It looks like the PM is not even asking for radical changes and therefore we are not going to get much back." Another cabinet minister said: "I would like parliament to have the option of whether we implement EU directives or not. The UK Parliament must be sovereign. Our relationship with the EU must be primarily focused on the single market." Telegraph, London