The upsurge of migrants heading to Europe from Africa is threatening to undermine living standards and social structures in the EU, British foreign secretary Philip Hammond has warned.

Mr Hammond said the continent could not absorb “millions” of Africans and that EU laws needed to be overhauled to ensure those coming simply to find a better way of life could be returned to their own country.

Claim asylum

His comments came after Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras warned that his country was being overwhelmed by the influx of arrivals crossing the Mediterranean from the Middle East and Africa.

Economic motivation

“As long as the Europe Union’s laws are the way they are, many of them will only have to set foot in Europe to be pretty confident that they will never be returned to their country of origin,” he said. “Now, that is not a sustainable situation because Europe can’t protect itself and preserve its standard of living and social structure, if it has to absorb millions of migrants from Africa.”

He said ensuring migrants could be returned to their country of origin was also the key to resolving the “crisis” at Calais, where hundreds are gathered in the hope of being able to make it across the Channel to Britain. “Having reviewed the situation in the light of the crisis it is clear that there is more that can be done to enhance the physical security of the tunnel,” he said.

“But we also have to work with our French colleagues to try to deal with the root cause of the problem.” – (PA)