- Speaking in an interview with the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper, with a translation published by Breitbart, 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 possibly take in the huge number of people who are wanting to make their way to Europe.'
Mr Gates praised Chancellor Merkel's commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid as 'phenomenal', and asked other European leaders to follow suit.
But he added: 'Europe must make it more difficult for Africans to reach the continent via the current transit routes.'
- An estimated 82,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, up 19 per cent on previous year, The Telegraph reports.
A German government report which leaked to the Bild newspaper suggests there could be up to 6.6million people trying to get into Europe, including 2.5million waiting to cross from North Africa.
It is thought that 2,000 people have lost their lives making the crossing since the start of the year.
True. To be fair, the meat of the information is Gates's comment rather than any editorialization around that. I think he makes a sharp point by implying that the costs over time of sheltering further refugees will be greater than increasing foreign aid to the African continent to alleviate suffering. Especially considering the numbers of refugees and Europe's history in affected regions.