African countries should get extra EU funds so they can assess asylum applications before migrants risk their lives travelling to Europe, Emmanuel Macron said today.

The French president said the transit countries of Niger and Chad had a particularly important role to play in stopping men, women and children dying on flimsy boats in the Mediterranean.

At present thousands cross the border into war-torn Libya before heading for the coast, where people smugglers provide death trap vessels that have claimed some 14000 lives since 2014.

French President Emmanuel Macron greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a meeting of several African and EU leaders to discuss the continuing migration crisis

President Macron claimed states such as Chad and Niger could prevent migrants from crossing into Libya who then risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean in flimsy boats

At a summit between EU and African leaders in Paris, Mr Macron said 'a short-term action plan is the most effective response to the intolerable phenomenon of human traffickers'.

The President said Niger and Chad needed to impose tighter border controls with Libya, with United Nations officials examining asylum applications on the spot.

This would end the need for migrants to cross Libya, and then the Mediterranean, but help from all African countries was essential.

'This is a challenge for everyone, and no one can solve it alone,' said Mr Macron. 'We must all act together – from those in the countries of origin, to those in Europe.'

Among African leaders attending the summit with Mr Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the Libyan leader Faiez Al-Sarraj.

His country was reduced to a failed state following regime change in 2011 that saw the RAF and French airforce helping to depose the late dictator Colonel Gaddafi.

Mr Macron wants to deal with asylum claims before people board the deadly small boats

The country is now a hotbed of people smuggler and terrorist activity, with Islamic State among those who have set up operations there.

Mr Al-Sarraj, whose forces control only a small part of the country, used the summit to ask for the lifting of the UN arms embargo on the country.

While bandit groups such as Isis have plenty of weapons, official border and coast guards struggle to get hold of them.

Mr Macron's suggestion of putting more EU money into carrying out asylum checks in Africa has already been criticised by aid groups.

Eva Ottavy, of the French NGO Cimade, said: 'The European border is being pushed back into more and more distant countries, under the guise of saving lives.'