The Dalai Lama has warned that Europe could become 'Muslim or African' if refugees who have been taken in are not then sent back to their home countries.

The Buddhist spiritual leader, who has been living as a refugee in India since fleeing Tibet in 1959, said only a 'limited number' of migrants should be allowed to remain.

During an interview with the BBC, the Dalai Lama added that refugees who have fled to Europe should be given skills before being returned.

He said Europe was under an obligation to take in those who needed help, but ultimately they should be returned to their homelands.

The 83-year-old said: 'European countries should take these refugees and give them education and training, and the aim is - return to their own land with certain skills.'

The Dalai Lama said Europe should take in refugees and give them an education, but must then send them back to their home countries to avoid the continent becoming 'Muslim or African'

Migrants arriving on an Armed Forces of Malta vessel at its base in Marsamxett Harbour, Valletta, Malta, last week

When asked what should happen to those who want to stay in their adopted countries, he replied: 'A limited number is OK. But the whole of Europe [will] eventually become Muslim country - impossible. Or African country, also impossible.'

The interviewer asked about his own refugee status, the Dalai Lama repeated his previous claims that 'Europe is for Europeans'.

He added: 'They themselves, I think [are] better in their own land. Better [to] keep Europe for Europeans.'

It is not the first time the monk has made such comments. In a speech last year in Malmo, Sweden, the Tibetan Buddhist said refugees should return to help rebuilt their own countries.

He said: 'Receive them [migrants], help them, educate them, but ultimately they should develop their own country. I think Europe belongs to the Europeans.'

Last September when he made a similar comments after being asked about refugees during his public talk in Rotterdam, the Dalai Lama issued a statement in response.

He said: 'When refugees from other countries have come to Europe, it's wonderful that Germany and other European countries have given them help.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (left) gestures as he arrived to attend a conference with Muslim leaders in New Delhi, India, earlier this month

When asked about Brexit, the Dalai Lama said he admired the EU for helping to prevent global conflicts

'However, I think that most of those refugees think of their own lands as home, but just now there is lots of killing, bullying and suffering there.

'That's why they escaped. So, in the short term, European countries should provide them with shelter, and should particularly provide children with facilities for education and training, including mechanical training, for the young people.

'The aim is that they should eventually be able to return to rebuild their own countries. That has been my view right from the beginning.

'For example, we Tibetans took shelter in India, but most Tibetans want to return to Tibet when the situation there has changed. Each country has its own culture, language, way of life, and it is better for people to live in their own country. That is my view.'

In the recent BBC interview, the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, went on to say he admired the European Union as a method of avoiding global conflicts.

He said: I'm an outsider, but I feel [it's] better [to] remain in the union.'

EU figures from last year state around 4.4 per cent of the bloc's 512 million population are non-EU citizens.

The Sea Watch 3 vessel out from the Lampedusa harbour, Italy, yesterday. The captain of Sea Watch 3 vessel, carrying 42 migrants on board but was blockaded fro entering the port

The statistics said that 2.4 million migrants entered the EU from non-EU countries in 2017. There arr thought to be around 70 million refugees worldwide.

When asked in the BBC interview about President Donald Trump he replied that his time in the White House 'lacked moral principle' and that his America first policy was 'wrong'.

The Buddhist monk has made India his home since fleeing the capital Lhasa in 1959 during the Tibetan uprising.

He set up a government-in-exile in Dharamsala in northern India and launched a campaign to reclaim Tibet from China, which gradually evolved into an appeal for greater autonomy - known as the so-called 'middle way' approach.

India, which granted him asylum in 1959, has supported the Tibetan leader but of late the government has maintained a distance, citing diplomatic sensitivities.

In 2015 he said that if he was succeeded by a female Dalai Lama she would have to be attractive, despite declaring himself to be a feminist.

Speaking to the BBC he again said while laughing: 'If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive.'

On international Women's Day this year in March he called for more women to be given leadership roles instead of men who are 'celebrated for killing their opponents'.

He posted: 'Women have been shown to be more sensitive to others' suffering, whereas, warriors celebrated for killing their opponents are almost always men.