Bill Gates in HUGE borders U-turn: 'Brussels must make it HARDER for migrants to reach EU'

BILL GATES has made a massive open-borders U-turn and urged Brussels to make it more “difficult” for migrants to reach Europe. 

By JOEY MILLAR

PUBLISHED: 22:24, Wed, Jul 5, 2017 | UPDATED: 22:29, Wed, Jul 5, 2017

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Bill Gates has made a massive U-turn on Europe's migrant policy

He had previously called on countries to take in more migrants but now appears to have completely reversed his view. 

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The Microsoft chief said instead of opening the European Union borders, Brussels should fix the push-factors at the source by sending more foreign aid. 

He said: “On the one hand you want to demonstrate generosity and take in refugees, but the more generous you are, the more word gets around about this – which in turn motivates more people to leave Africa.

“[Germany cannot] take in the huge, massive number of people who are wanting to make their way to Europe.”

He said instead the EU must make it “more difficult for Africans to reach the continent via the current transit routes” while also relieving “enormous pressure” by sending foreign aid. 

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The 61-year-old said it was “phenomenal” German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently spending 0.7 per cent of the country’s GDP on foreign aid and urged others to follow its example. 

Last year Mr Gates, who is worth an estimated 60 billion pounds, called on America to open its doors to Syrian migrants.

Bill Gates talks Brexit during pro-EU interview 

And he said Germany and Sweden were “to be congratulated” for opening its doors during the migrant crisis.

He said the USA “had the capacity” to follow suit, claiming: “The total number of refugees is not a world record.”

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Bill Gates called on Europe to open its borders to migrants last year

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Last year Bill Gates praised Germany and Sweden's approach to the migrant crisis

Mr Gates’ warnings came days after Italian interior minister Marco Minniti held emergency talks with his French and German counterparts regarding the migrant crisis. 

More than 80,000 migrants have already arrived in Italy this year, a rise of nearly one-fifth on the same period last year. 

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